


It's kind of like fate

by phoenixbird27



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Boss/Employee Relationship, Businessman Akashi, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Model Kise Ryouta, One Night Stands, Policeman Aomine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:30:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 69,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4083250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixbird27/pseuds/phoenixbird27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko Tetsuya has never been one to stand out, and that's just how he likes it. He leads a simple and quiet life, living with his idiot of a best friend in a shabby apartment on the outskirts of the city.<br/>However, when Kuroko meets 'notorious businessman and genius,' Akashi Seijuro, he realizes that he could kiss his quiet and simple life good bye, since Akashi had no plans of letting Kuroko blend in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One: Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Hi :D  
> I've recently fallen into the bottomless Akakuro fandom and now I am questioning my life. This fic is probably going to be around 20 chapters, but that number might change depending on certain circumstances. And on a side note, this entire work will most likely be safe for work/school since I just don't know how to write rated R stuff.

One: Birthday

 

I remember that on the day I first met him, I was wearing a happy birthday crown made of flimsy cardboard, and my old high school basketball jersey that I sadly still fit into. I didn’t know then, that this encounter would be what marked the start to us, to everything. As I regarded the throngs of people crowding on the dance floor, I immediately turned to my best friend Aomine with a disapproving frown.  
“ You tricked me.”  
He glanced down at me with a sly smirk, and shrugged. “ It doesn’t count as tricking you if you were the one who said, and I quote, ‘ I don’t care where we go to celebrate my birthday, Aomine-kun.’”  
I couldn’t really argue with that. Normally, we would celebrate each other’s birthdays by eating at a burger joint, then partaking in a long one on one basketball match in which Aomine usually always won. I’d never thought that a club would be where Aomine would take me for my twenty fourth birthday. I followed Aomine’s line of vision and snorted inwardly. He was staring at the lady in the middle of the dance floor who sported the rather large breasts. Of course.  
“ Aomine-kun,” I said in a disapproving tone. “ Tell the truth, you only brought me here so you could check out girls, right?”  
Aomine grinned down at me and laughed, slapping me lightly on the shoulder.  
“ Oi, Tetsu, don’t go sounding so bitter, alright? This is good for you too. No offence, but you really got no game. When was the last time you even talked to a girl?”  
“ I talk to Momoi-san quite frequently,” I defended, trying to protect my slightly damaged ego. “ And I talk to the kids at the orphanage.”  
Aomine snorted, his dark blue hair reflecting oddly against the flashing lights.  
“ Tetsu, Satsuki doesn’t count as a member of the female species, and do I even have to comment on the kids?”  
“ That’s not a kind thing to say, Aomine kun. Momoi san would be angry if she heard that.”  
“ Hah?” Aomine retorted, “ that’s not my problem. Oh, there’s Hyuga and Riko and the others. ”  
I was pulled along like some school boy at the super market with his mother as Aomine lead me towards the booth that contained all our mutual friends from university. For a moment, I lost Aomine’s hand in the sea of swaying bodies and I was momentarily bounced about by random body parts glistening with a light sheen of sweat. And that’s when I caught sight of him from the corner of my eye.  
The first thing I noticed was his posture. He sat leaned back against one of the couches, a glass cup balanced loosely between his fingers. His eyes were on the crowd as he tilted the glass up to meet his lips. He radiated an aura of grace and aristocracy; something I’d never thought I’d get to feel at a place like this. He wore an expensive looking black suit and a black button up to match. A white tie hung loosely around his neck. Then, a jolt of shock ran down my spine as those watchful eyes landed on me. I stared at him, and he stared back in return, neither one of us breaking eye contact.  
He looked every bit like some wealthy, rich boy who most likely had everything handed to him on silver platter. He looked like he was someone who I normally would never have associated myself with; someone from a completely different world. And yet…  
And yet those eyes. Those eyes pierced right through me, and I shivered. It felt as though he could see right through me. I shifted uncomfortably under the intense pressure of his stare and he smirked, his lips curving up in a devious fashion. I felt an arm go around my shoulders. I glanced up and saw Aomine’s confused face above me.  
“ Whatcha lookin’ at Tetsu? Come on, let’s go,” Aomine said, tugging me along.  
“ I’m coming, I was just…” I looked back to where that aristocratic guy was standing but he was already gone. My eyes swept the dance floor, but there were no signs of him anywhere.  
“ Just what?”  
I shook my head. What in the world was I doing? “ Nothing,” I replied. “ Let’s go.”

 

“ Happy birthday, Tetsu-kun!” Momoi sang as she threw her arms around me. I gasped a little as she locked her arms around me a little too tightly.  
“ Too tight, Momoi-san,” I wheezed.  
Momoi laughed and unwinded her arms from my neck.  
“ Sorry, sorry,” she said with a small laugh and took a step back. Her pretty pink eyes glittered with happiness as she handed me a blue gift bag. “ For you.”  
I smiled and took it from her hands. “ Thank you, Momoi-san. you really didn’t have to get me anything.”  
She shook her head. “ No, I wanted to. It’s nothing big, so don’t worry about it.”  
“ Oi, Satsuki, stop hogging Tetsu all to yourself,” Aomine complained and turned to me with a sheepish look on his face. He pushed a very poorly wrapped box into my hands. “ Here. There’s a card in there that says happy birthday and and all that shit.”  
The box was quite large. I let out a quiet chuckle when I noticed the wrapping.  
“ If it’s this poorly wrapped, maybe you shouldn’t have wrapped it at all,” i said jokingly.  
“ Shut up! I ran out of wrapping paper, okay? Just open it.”  
“ Right now?”  
“ Yes, right now.”  
I did as I was told and widened my eyes when I saw what it was that he got me.  
“ A pair of new basketball shoes. Yours are getting old right?” Aomine said while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.  
I was truly quite touched by this rare kind gesture from my best friend of ten years.  
“ Aomine kun…Thank you…..wait,” I frowned as I pulled out a piece of paper from the box. “ What is this?”  
And then Aomine grinned, the embarrassed expression completely wiped off his face.  
“ That, is something you have to wear tonight. If you don’t then I’m taking the shoes back.”  
“ Aomine kun,” I deadpanned. “ This is a birthday crown. It says happy fourth birthday with a two drawn in before the four in blue sharpie.”  
“ I know,” Aomine said with a snicker, “ I want to see you wear it. You said you’d do anything if you lost to me in one on one again. And you lost pretty badly.”  
“…I refuse.”  
A couple minutes later, I was wearing a card board birthday crown and Aomine was wearing a smug smile on his stupid face.  
“ Tetsu-kun! You look so cute!” Momoi chanted while snapping pictures of my face.  
“ Kuroko, you haven’t aged a single day since high school ended,” Hyuga complained.  
“ I did change, Hyuuga Senpai,” I replied cooly. “ You just never noticed.”  
“ Nope, Im pretty sure Hyuuga is right. Your face is still fresh as ever. No wonder no girls want you.”  
“ That’s not nice, Aomine kun.”  
“ You’ve been friends with me for ten years. You should know that by now.”  
Laughter echoed around the table as everyone chatted happily amongst themselves.  
“ Have you guys still not heard anything from Kise?” Hyuuga asked suddenly. Riko kicked him under the table,a disapproving frown on her face. Suddenly, an uncomfortable silence fell upon the table. I glanced at Aomine hesitantly. His face was a strange stoic calm, features not betraying a single hint of emotion. I knew that face. That was the face Aomine always made when he was trying to hide what he was feeling.  
“ You idiot,” Riko hissed in annoyance.  
“ Im sorry, I didn’t know it was still a big deal,” Hyuuga whispered back loudly.  
I saw Aomine clench his hands into fists and I stood up before I knew what I was even doing.  
“ Uh..” I said as loud as I could manage. “ Um, I would just like to say a quick thanks to you all for coming. Especially thanks to Aomine kun for picking such an…interesting place to gather.”  
I picked up the nearest cup of cola I could reach and downed it before anyone could utter a single word.  
“ Tetsu….”  
“ Yes?”  
“ Aren’t you really bad with alcohol?”  
“…yes?”  
“ That cola was laced with vodka..”  
But I already couldn’t see Aomine’s face anymore as my vision went completely awry. I felt my knees buckle from beneath me and the floor rushing to meet my body, but a pair of arms caught me just in time before I hit the ground.  
“ Ah, jesus, Tetsu,” Aomine grumbled. “ Sorry guys, I’m going to bring him to get sobered. You guys just continue on without us.”  
“ B’Im kay?” I slurred.  
“ You’re obviously not okay, you idiot. Come here,” Aomine said and threw my arm around his shoulder.  
“ Hey, Tetsu,” he murmured after we were away from that booth.  
“ Hmrh?” I think I said.  
“ Thanks for earlier.”  
I smiled and closed my eyes. “ It’s n’problem.”

 

Aomine brought me to a what looked like an outdoor patio. The chilling winter breeze seemed to help in sobering me up. My head felt a lot clearer right away. I looked towards Aomine and noticed that he was looking towards the door, face wide with surprise as if he had seen a ghost walk by. I tried to see what he could possibly be looking at, and I saw nothing but a flash of blonde hair. He couldn't be thinking it’s him right?  
“ Um, Aomine kun—-“  
“ Hey, Tetsu, stay put alright?” Aomine told me without looking away from the door. “ I’m going to go get you some water.”  
Before I could say another word, he was already gone.  
I sighed as I was left alone.  
Kise Ryouta, the one person Aomine would never forget…was he really here? I shook my head. That blonde could have easily been anyone. And Kise was a famous model. There’s no way that he could have been here coincidently tonight of all nights. Aomine was probably going to be disappointed again.  
I clutched my stomach as I felt the after effects of the alcohol kick in. Washroom, I needed to find a washroom. 

 

Finding the washroom was no easy task.  
For one thing, all the hallways of this place looked almost exactly the same. I hadn’t exactly been paying attention as to where we were going when Aomine had brought me up to the patio to get some fresh air. as I turned into the same corner for about the fifth time, I was quite sure that I was lost.  
“ Ah…This isn’t good,” I mumbled worryingly.  
Suddenly, an arm stretched out from around the corner and yanked me around it. I was twirled around until my back hit the cold marble wall and I felt a body press up against mine.  
“ What took you so god damn long?” The voice purred. It was a nice voice; soft, yet not quiet; lyrical, almost like wind chimes. Before I could respond and ask what in the world was going on, I felt a pair of lips press onto mine, rendering me completely speechless.  
The moment the stranger pressed his lips onto mine, I could tell that he had realized I wasn’t who he had been waiting for. Yet he continued to kiss me anyway; his lips never leaving mine. For a moment, my urgent needs of finding a washroom were completely forgotten as I slowly lost myself to the heated kiss. Without a warning, the stranger broke apart from me and let out a breath.  
My breathing was also ragged as i tried to slow down my pounding heart. Whoa. That was something I was not accustomed to.  
“ Who,” the person said cooly, “ in the world are you?”  
“ Not who you were waiting for,” I replied bluntly.  
The person laughed a sharp melodious laugh and leaned into me, his lips touched the tips of my ear. Shivers ran down my spine as he whispered into it.  
“ You’re a quick one, aren’t you?”  
“ Not particularly,” I murmured, not sure what the hell was happening to me. Maybe it was the influence of the alcohol, or maybe I was just delirious, but this was definitely the first time I felt this attracted to a person.  
My hands mindlessly traveled up to his chest and I felt the soft suede of the suit that he was wearing and a loose tie, rumpled from our previous make out scene.  
A light bulb went off in my head as I realized who he was.  
“ I know you,” I said without thinking. It was weird because I would always think before I speak. “ Well, I don’t know you, actually. But I’ve seen you before.”  
“ Have you, now?” I could hear amusement in his voice.  
“ Black suit, black shirt and white tie. You were sitting by that bar, drinking wine.”  
He seemed to recognize me now.  
“ Ah, I remember you. You were the kid wearing the basketball jersey. You were just standing there, staring at me.”  
His hands traveled over to my face and trailed down to my chin, tilting it up in an entrancing fashion.  
“ I’m twenty four actually,” I managed to whisper, feeling the nearness of his lips to mine. “ As of today.”  
I could feel his smirk as his lips brushed mine gently. It was enough to send a thousand jolts of electricity throughout my entire body.  
“ Good, because you’re coming home with me tonight, and the things I have planned for you cannot possibly be legal for someone under eighteen.”  
He pressed his lips against mine once again, harsher and more eager this time. We broke apart, both out of breath.  
“ What’s your name?” He asked me between breaths.  
“…Kuroko,” I told him. “ Kuroko Tetsuya.”  
“ Well, Tetsuya. Get ready for a birthday like no other.”


	2. Yellow and Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys :)  
> Here's chapter 2! Enjoy and leave comments down below if you have any questions.

_He pressed his lips against mine once again, harsher and more eager this time. We broke apart, both out of breath._

_“ What’s your name?” He asked me between breaths. “…Kuroko,” I told him. “ Kuroko Tetsuya.”_

_“ Well, Tetsuya. Get ready for a birthday like no other.”_

* * *

 

 

 

My eyes snapped open and for a moment, I experienced that sweet blissful moment one experiences right after they wake up; those sweet blissful three seconds of ignorance before the events of the night before comes crashing upon you like a tidal wave of regret.

Oh no.

Those were the first words that popped into my mind after those three seconds of nothingness. I carefully shifted in bed until my eyes found what..or who I was looking for.

There he was.

He was asleep, sheets covering only half of his body, leaving his bare and toned chest exposed. His shocking red hair spread fanned out on his pillow and glistened under the sunlight peeking in through the huge floor to ceiling windows. His eyelashes were so long that they tickled the top of his cheeks.

Beautiful.

I mentally slapped myself for checking him out even when I was sober. But He truly was beautiful; kind of like a beautifully carved sculpture that could only be put on display to be admired, but never to be touched.

_Well, technically, you touched him all night last night_ , an annoying voice in my head inputed.

I groaned inwardly as I checked under my sheets. Yup, I was about as nude as a newborn baby. I didn’t even have the decency to put on my underwear before I fell asleep.

“ Are you checking if we had sex? Because if you are, theres no need. We had quite a night last night.”

I snapped my head around to meet a pair of beautifully mismatched eyes watching me with amusement. I shamelessly stared at his eyes in complete wonder. One eye was a vibrant cherry red, while the other was a chilling golden amber colour. It was a strange, and dangerous beauty. I cleared my throat when he raised an eyebrow at my lack of speech.

“ Um, I’m sorry, I’m just not very use to…all this,” I tried to explain. “ I’m not usually a one night stand type of person.”

The stranger smirked. “ I didn’t think so either. It was really interesting to watch your face while we were going at it. It was bright red the entire—-“

I let out coughs of embarrassment as my face went up in flames. The red haired man beside me chuckled lightly. Despite my fluttering heart, I found enough courage in me to ask, “ Um, I don’t think I know your name.”

Surprise flickered across his face before realization settled in. “ Ah, it’s true that we did not care much for introductions last night. My name is Akashi Seijuro.”

Akashi Seijuro…Akashi Seijuro. It was a nice name. I blushed furiously and mentally slapped myself. What in the hell was I doing? Crushing on some person I don’t even know like a pathetic school girl? This wasn’t me. What was I going to do next? Fantasize about our married life together?

“ Ah, Tetsuya. My apologies, but I have somewhere I need to be in just a little while. Im afraid I am going to have to end our little…get together now,” Akashi said, interrupting my sad little fantasies.

Ah…I thought as I felt my heart sink a little in my chest. I was completely getting ahead of myself.

This was nothing but a one night stand after all.

I had just happened to be there wandering the halls when Akashi had been in need for company. I was just at the right place at the right time. Taking a deep breath, I raised my head and tried to calm my racing heart.

“ Thank you for last night, Akashi-kun. It was…a new experience for me,” I mumbled as I stumbled out of Akashi’s huge king sized bed and hunted around the gigantic room for my boxers and my other clothes. My boxers I found slung over the huge flat screen TV. I shamefully retrieved them and slipped them on. Akashi watched me with those beautifully piercing eyes. I suddenly felt self conscious standing before him in nothing but my old ratty boxers.

“ There is no need to feel shy, Tetsuya,” he told me as if reading my mind. “ There is no part of your body I haven’t seen already.”

That only made me more flustered as I scrambled to find the rest of my clothes.The rest of my clothes were harder to find. I found my basketball sweater thrown carelessly on top of the huge aquarium downstairs, while my pants were scattered on the floor of the kitchen. I glanced at the kitchen counter top distastefully. That counter top…I remember what we did on that countertop. I dragged myself out of the kitchen where Akashi was already waiting for me. He stood before me in a red bathrobe made of some silk material that screamed expensive.

“ Thank you again, Akashi kun. Ah, I-Im not sure what I’m supposed to say in this situation.”

Akashi smiled without actually smiling and opened the door for me. “ It was interesting meeting you, Kuroko Tetsuya. I hope I made this a memorable birthday for you. Good bye.”

“ Good bye,” I said.

And then that was it.

He didn’t ask for my number, or where I lived. This really was just a one night stand after all.

I turned away from the huge mansion with a slightly heavier heart. 

 

* * *

 

You have 24 missed calls and 29 text messages.

My eyes widened as I turned on my cell phone. They were mostly, if not all from Aomine.

Hey, Tetsu, Where did u go?

-sent at 8:23

Oi…Don’t ignore me…

-sent at 8:40

We’ll be waiting for you outside. Not cool to ditch ur own birthday party.

-sent at 9:01

…Did you get kidnapped? Is it because of that birthday crown?

-sent at 9:30

Kuroko Tetsuya, if you do not reply, I swear to god I’m going home by myself.

-sent at 9:40

Fine, be that way, Im leaving.

-sent at 9:55

Im really leaving now

-sent at 10:03

I left

-sent at 10:15

I scanned the rest of the text messages briefly. They all were on the lines of the same thing. Threats, worried messages, threats, worried messages again. I paused at the last message that he sent.

Hey Tetsu…I think I saw him today. It might’ve not been him…but I don’t know. Call me when you get this.

-sent at 2:30 am

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and sighed. I was right last night after all. Aomine had gone to find Kise. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Aomine chased a car for about two blocks once, because he swore he saw Kise sitting in it. Only it wasn’t Kise at all, just some high school kid who had the same bright yellow hair as the model and former basketball player.

Aomine and Kise lost contact with each other around when we all graduated from high school. It’s been almost six years since Aomine’s last spoken to Kise; six years since I’ve last spoken to him. We see him everyday though; on TV, on buildings, at Bus stops…Kise’s really made it big in the show biz world.

I glanced up at the sunlight peeking through the clouds above me. How did it go so wrong for them? I wondered. Kise’s always admired Aomine. Anyone could see that straight from the start.

_“ Ne, ne, Aominecchi! I say, Aominecchi!” Kise would always complain, “ stop lazing around and play basketball with me!”_

_“ Hah?” Aomine would reply in an annoyed tone, although he was never truly annoyed._ _“ No, it’ll never end if I play with you. You’re annoying, Go away.”_

_“ Kurokocchi!” Kise would then come to me in tears, face still miraculously beautiful. “ He’s so mean! Aominecchi is so mean! He called me annoying. Can you believe him?”_

_“ You cannot blame him for speaking the truth, Kise-kun,” I would reply in monotone and sip my Vanilla milkshake._

_“ So mean!” Kise would always cling to me unnecessarily everyday, and shower me with his affections. But I had always known where Kise’s heart truly lied…or with whom his heart truly lied._

 

_“ Hey, Kurokocchi,” Kise said one sunny summer afternoon in our second year of high school. “_

_Yes, Kise kun?”_

_“ I…uh…about Aominecchi….I, um..” Kise trailed off, face turning bright pink. He hid his face in his sweatshirt and turned away from me._

_“ Never mind.”_

_I remember feeling extremely curious, and also a tad bit sadistic, to be completely honest._

_“ What about Aomine kun?”_

_“…Do you know if…if he l-likes anyone?” came Kise’s hesitant question._

_I remember thinking that Kise was too obvious for his own good. I pretended to think for a moment._

_“ Hmmn….There’s….” I murmured, noticing Kise widening his eyes form my peripheral vision. “ no one.”_

_“ Kurokocchi!” Kise complained, pushing me aside playfully. “ You scared me!”_

_“ Are you finally going to tell Aomine kun about your feelings?” I asked casually while tossing my basketball in the air. Kise almost fell sideways as he choked on nothing._

_“ W-wh-what are you talking about, Kurokocchi?” He spluttered incoherently._

_I chuckled under my breath. This was one of the rare moments that I found Kise cute._

_“ I’d be stupid not to notice, Kise kun.”_

_Kise was silent for a while. I assumed he was trying to calm himself down._

_“ Will Aominecchi think Im disgusting? After all, Im a guy and he’s also a guy, and he loves boobs so much…”_

_Kise started tearing up and it wasn’t long before those tears started to trickle down his face._

_“ Why does he like boobs so much?!” Kise wailed into his arm._

_The students sitting around us all cast us strange looks and I tried to calm Kise down in panic._

_“ Ah, Kise kun, don’t be sad. If Aomine kun truly loved breasts so much, wouldn’t he like Momoi san?”_

 

_I silently apologized for inferring indecent things about Momoi. Slowly, Kise stopped sobbing as his wails turned into little hiccups. He stared at me earnestly with those wide and pretty liquid amber eyes._

_“..really?”_

_“ Really,” I sighed._

_“ Okay! Then I’m going to confess to him!” Kise announced, his attitude changed completely._

_“ Wish me luck, Kurokocchi!”_

_I waved good bye to him in amusement as I watched the blonde scurry off to find his idol._

_Two days later, Kise came to me in high spirits announcing that Aomine accepted his confession and would think about it._

_A week later, they started dating. It was a strange sight to see, but I was happy for them both since they both seem to shine just a bit brighter when they were next to each other._

 

* * *

 

 

_The day that it all went wrong for them came unexpectedly, and completely out of the blue._

_It was a rainy night and I was getting ready for bed when I heard knocks on my door. I remember getting a broom stick to defend myself in case it was a burglar. It turned out that it wasn’t a burglar, but a completely soaked Kise._

_“ Kurokocchi..” He whispered when I opened the door, voice haggard and pain stricken. He was shivering and I ushered him in with no questions asked. After I made sure he was warm and dry and well fed, I sat him down on my bed and tucked him in._

_“ You can sleep here tonight,” I told him. “ We can talk tomorrow, so sleep well for tonight, Kise kun.”_

_I turned around to leave, but I felt him tug at my sleeve. “ Hey, Kurokocchi, could you not go? Just for tonight…I..” Kise couldn’t meet my eyes as he whispered into my pillow. It was so unlike Kise. All I knew was that I was hurt because Kise was hurt._

_“…Alright,” I heard myself say._

_I spent that night sleeping beside Kise, my hand reaching out to comfort him whenever I heard him cry against the blackness of the night._

_I woke up the next day with a note saying ‘thank you Kurokocchi’ and I never saw Kise again after that._

 

Aomine and I tried to contact him again and again, but it took Kise’s number getting disconnected for the message to get through to us.

Kise left us on purpose.

He left to start anew, to start a life that we weren’t a part of. And we never found out why.

Aomine wasn’t alright for quite a while after that. I remember there were constant nights where I received calls from different bars, telling me I had to go pick up ‘a tall drunk guy with blue hair moaning about someone named Kise.’

I stopped in front of the apartment that aomine and I shared and reached in my pockets for my keys before I realized that I probably left them at home. I knocked once and the door burst open.

Aomine appeared before me with the most pissed off and worried expression and pulled me into a smothering bear hug.

“ Tetsu, holy shit! Where the hell have you been? I thought you got kidnapped by some creepy rapists or something.”

“ A-aomine kun, I c-cant breathe,” I rasped, flailing my arms uselessly. I tried pushing him away, but he held on relentlessly. I stopped when I felt the slight tremors going through his body.

“ I thought you left me too, you know,” Aomine whispered. My heart fell at the sound of his broken voice.

“ I wouldn’t leave you, Aomine kun. You know that.”

“…I saw him yesterday, Tetsu,” he told me. “ I’m sure this time. He was wearing that earring he always wore.” I patted Aomine on the back, and he released me after realizing he was still holding on.

“ Sorry,” he murmured embarrassed.

I smiled a small smile and closed the door behind us.

“ It looks like we have a lot to talk about don’t we?”


	3. I want you

“ Whoa, whoa, hold up,” Aomine said, holding up his hands to stop me mid sentence. “ So this asshole—“

“ Please don’t call Akashi kun an asshole, Aomine kun.”

“ What are you talking about? He kicked you out the morning after you two had sex. On your birthday too. He’s a complete asshole,” Aomine insisted.

I sighed and let my head fall into my hands. It has almost been a week since I woke up in Akashi's bed, and Aomine had finally stopped blubbering about Kise long enough to listen to the adventures I went on during my birthday while I was a complete hot headed and decision impaired drunk.

We were in the super market, surrounded by noisy children shouting for their mothers to buy them treats high in sugar content. 

“ It was just a one night stand after all,” I mumbled quietly, while placing a couple bottles of pokari sweat into our shopping basket.

" So he hasn't called you all week?"

" He didn't even ask for my number."

" Ouch."

" I know."

Aomine shot me a sympathetic glance and clapped me on the back reassuringly.

“ Well, uh I mean, don’t worry about it too much, Tetsu. It’s definitely his loss,” Aomine comforted me awkwardly.

“ Ah, well…If you would have seen his face, then you would have definitely told me it’s completely my loss,” I replied, thinking of Akashi’s flawlessly chiseled features.

“…That good huh?”

“ Yes.”

“ Would it make you feel better if I lent you my magazine stash?”

“ Aomine kun,” I deadpanned. “ I like men.”

“ Huh? But so do I?” I shook my head in amusement. “ You’ve only liked one man, Aomine kun. And that was during your teenage years. It doesn’t count. In my eyes, you’re about as straight as a ruler.”

As Aomine pondered about his sexual orientation, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

“ Hello?” I answered.

“ K-Kuroko kun? This is Mabuchi from the orphanage. I’m sorry, I know it’s your day off, but could you please come right away? We’re in trouble,” came the voice at the receiving end of the phone. I perked up to listen right away, uneasiness settling into the pits of my stomach.

“ Yes? I’m listening.”

 

* * *

 

 

“ Mabuchi san?” I called as I entered the old building of the orphanage, running past the walls covered with old drawings done by the kids. The building itself wasn’t very big. It was only about a third the size of my old high school, but the land it was built on was quite large.

“ Kuroko kun!” She answered, peeking her head out from around the corner. Her eyes were red, and her hair was out of her usual braid, and she flung her arms around me with a small sob.

“ what should I do? Kuroko kun? They’ve already sent us the official documents and everything. It’s true that we’ve been having some troubles lately, but they can’t just do that can they, Kuroko kun?”

“ Please calm down first, Mabuchi san. Do you have the documents?”

“ Yes,” she sniffed and went to retrieve them. She returned shortly with a stack of papers and a tissue box. “ Here they are.”

I took the papers from her hands and stared at the words stated in bold.

“Official Documentation Agreement On Hikari Orphanage.”

“…They’re buying this building?” I whispered in horror after scanning the document.

Mabuchi hung her head in defeat and my mind reeled wildly.

Someone was buying this Orphanage? Why? Who? When?

“ Look on page three,” Mabuchi said, sitting down in the nearest chair. “ It get’s worse.”

I flipped to page three with shaking hands. My eyes widened as my brain processed what this meant.

“ Mabuchi san…this..” She hung her head and closed her eyes. “ They’re going to build a factory here. Which means...”

" They're going to tear the building apart," I said in slow horror. 

A silence fell upon us as we both let this sink in. 

“…The kids?”

“ Will be sent away to other orphanages.”

I was quiet as shock rummaged me through and through.

“ Ow!” A small voice yelped.

“ You Idiot! They’ll hear us!” Another whispered back angrily.

Mabuchi opened the door leading to the second floor and out tumbled two anxious children.

“ Ah, now you’ve done it,” the older red haired one complained.

“ Kaoru kun! Hinata Kun! You two are supposed to be sleeping with the other children,” Mabuchi exclaimed.

“ Kuroko Sensei!” The smaller blonde yelped and ran into my arms. “ Is it true? Are we going to have to separate? I don’t want to leave everyone, Kuroko Sensei! Tell me it isn’t true!”

I stared down into a pair of ernest leaf green pools and smiled sadly.

“ Is it really true? Kuroko sensei?” Kaoru, the red haired boy asked me quietly.

I closed my eyes and imagined allowing some big shot company tear down what I have come to see as my home for the past five years.

I couldn’t let them do it.

I _wouldn’t_ let them do it.

My eyes snapped open as my resolve was made.

“ I won’t allow it to happen,” I murmured quietly. I raised my head and met Mabuchi’s teary eyes.“ I’m not going to let this happen, Mabuchi san.”

“ Kuroko kun…”

“ I’m sorry,” I told her, “but could you watch Kaoru and Hinata for a while? I have somewhere I need to go.”

Mabuchi looked as if she wanted to protest, but ended up nodding her head reluctantly instead. 

 

“ I…alright. Stay out of trouble.”

I grabbed the documents and headed out the building, muttering the address I needed to go to under my breath.

 

 

 

I stopped in front of my destination and looked up at the enormous sky scraper before me. The building was made almost entirely of hard blue tinted glass, with a wide concrete stair case leading up to huge revolving glass doors.

“ A.S. Electronics Corporation,” I read from the large sign made of once again, glass, that stood proudly in front of the intricate water fountain. Somewhere form the back of my mind, I recalled that I’ve seen their products everywhere; TV’s, Computers, Refrigerators, Air conditioners, cell phones….I pulled out my cell phone and scoffed inwardly.

Yup, there was the tiny A.S. Logo right there. I closed my eyes and slapped myself on the cheeks twice.

Alright, Kuroko, I thought. You can do this. You have to do this for the children, for the orphanage.

And with that, I took my first of many step into A.S. Electronics corporations.

 

 

 

“ Hello,” I said, trying to get the receptionist’s attention.

She jumped a little as she finally noticed me standing before her.

“ Oh, goodness, you scared me,” she exhaled, clutching her chest frantically.

“ I apologize,” I said.

“ Well? How may I help you? Does you mom or dad work here?”

I was mistaken as a high school student again. I held back an annoyed protest and just I shook my head.

“ No, I’m looking for the person in charge of the Hikari Orphanage project.”

The receptionist looked surprised. “ That would be our new CEO. Do you have an appointment with him?”

“ No, but—-“

“ Then I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for you,” she told me apologetically. “ You see, the new CEO has um…how should I say this, a bad reputation around here. No one wants to get on his bad side. And he especially hates people wasting his time.”

“ I understand, but it’s really important. If you could just—-“

“ I’m really sorry, but no can do,” she insisted.

“ Why don’t you make an appointment and come back?” I opened my mouth to argue, but thought against it.

There was no point in arguing with a receptionist who was just doing her job.

I was going to have to find another way in.

It didn’t really occur to me until later that I could probably just walk in and no one would notice anyway. I didn't have the strongest presence in the world.

My theory proved to be correct when the securities took no notice of me walking past them. Since I wasn’t going to be noticed anyway, I took my time in the lobby of the company.

It was truly a leading electronics company after all.

The floors were made of solid black marble, as were the huge pillars that rose from the floor to the ceiling. There were huge flat screen TVs anchored at each of the pillars, each displaying the morning news. Even the elevators were highly renovated. I pressed the button for the top floor; the thirtieth floor. I thought it was safe to assume that the CEO’s office would be at the top of the building.

The doors tinged open and I stepped into the open room with caution.

It was a well lit corridor-like room, octagonal in shape with glass floor to ceiling windows circling the primacies. There was a huge door right in front of me and another desk to the left of me, which I assumed belonged to the CEO’s assistant. However it was luckily vacant, so I walked right up to the door. I took a deep breath and knocked three times, then waited. There was no reply. Frowning, I knocked again. After I received no reply the second time, I carefully and hesitantly pushed the heavy wooden doors open and poked my head inside. Suddenly, a blurry object flew past me and lodged itself in the wall just a few feet away from me, and just a few inches away from the quivering man next to me.

I looked again and noticed that it was a pair of scissors.

“ F-Forget it,” the man beside me stuttered, eyes bulged out in shock and backing away slowly, “ I quit! I quit this goddamned job. I should have listened to the others, cause they were right. You’re crazy. You’re absolutely crazy.”

“ It seems you have misunderstood,” a very familiar voice sounded ahead of me. Lyrical…yet chilling

… No way…

I squinted at the sunlight in my eyes, blocking the face of the speaker before me.

“ Those scissors I threw at you a moment ago was a message that you are not worthy to me. You quit? Know your place! My orders are absolute, and I am saying that you are fired.”

The man’s eyes widened with terror and scurried out of the room in panic and utmost fear. The door banged shut behind him with an echoing clack.

 Chills ran through me as I was left alone with the CEO.

It couldn’t be him, could it?

The man stepped out of the light and stopped before me.

Bright red hair akin to the colour of a blazing fire paired with one scarlet eye to match, and another one golden, contrastingly cold.

His eyes were icy and uninviting as some sort of recognition seemed to have registered.

For a moment we just stood there in silence, neither one of us moving a muscle. 

“ I didn’t think I’d be seeing you so soon,” he said, mouth curving up into that dangerously alluring smirk of his, “ Tetsuya.”

“…Akashi kun,” I struggled to keep my voice even. “ I didn’t know you wee the CEO of A.S. Electronics.”

Akashi’s eyes lit up with amusement as he approached me. As he took a step forward, I took a step back. I felt my back hit the cold hard wall behind me and I paused, momentarily panicking. Akashi placed his arms on either side of my head and leaned in so that our lips were just inches away from each other.

“ Well, Tetsuya, did you go home and do your research about me? I didn’t think you would come to find me so soon.”

That little—-I clenched my hands in anger as I realized what he was saying. He didn’t leave me his contact information or ask for mine because he was sure that I would come looking for him. He was that confident. Slowly, I reached up and pushed him away.

Surprise flickered across Akashi’s eyes before the same cold and superior gaze returned.

“ That was not my intention,” I told him, setting my eyes hard. “ I came here to look for the CEO of A.S. Electronics, not you Akashi kun.”

Akashi seemed to read my face before settling with a chilling smile. Shivers ran down my spine as I felt those eyes, his eyes raking up and down my face, reading every little piece of emotion I accidentally let slip out. 

“ And what would someone like you need with the CEO of A.S.?”

.. _.Someone like me_...

 

I couldn’t help but compare me to him. Akashi was wearing a black suit, with a red button down that matched his striking red hair, a silky black tie, and black pants. The items on his body probably cost more than I make in a year. I looked down at my ratty jeans and T shirt ensemble. It was true that we were different, but what did he expect? that I would feel inferior because of our clothes? I hardened my eyes and met his gaze full on without batting an eye. 

“ Hikari Orphanage,” I spoke after a moment, hands tightening around the documents in my right hand, “ I came to stop you from buying Hikari Orphanage.”

Akashi raised a perfectly sculpted brow in surprise. “ And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

“I…” I fumbled for words as I realized that I truly did not have a game plan.

“ That land is the ideal place for A.S. to build our next product assembly factory. Your reason has to be very good to convince me, Tetsuya.”

“ I…” I trailed off. “ I apologize, but I do not have a reason that would appeal to you, Akashi kun. But that orphanage is where many children call home, it’s my home.That is my only reason.”

Akashi studied my face for a long time before crossing his arms.

“ I am a business man, Tetsuya. Your offer holds no value to me unless I get something in return.”

Despair settled in my heart as I closed my eyes. Even if I sold everything I had, it probably wouldn’t even amount to one fifth of the Orphanages worth. Besides, it wasn’t as if I could offer Akashi money, since money was all that he had.

“ I have nothing I could offer you, Akashi kun,” I said quietly.

There was a moment of silence and I waited for Akashi to tell me get out of his office like he did to that assistant he just fired.

But he never did.

“ No…” Akashi mused, and my eyes snapped open. “ There is something that I want from you.”

My eyes widened as hope surged in my heart.

Anything, he could take anything as long as he didn’t take away the orphanage.

“ Anything,” i whispered gratefully.

I stumbled back in surprise as Akashi once again leaned in towards me. His graceful fingers moved up to tilt my chin back, causing my disobedient heart to race at a hundred miles per hour. 

“ I want you,” was his answer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u guys enjoyed that :)  
> the next chapter will be posted sooner than usual since exams have finally ended. Hallelujahhhh~  
> If anyone is curious about aokise, no worries. Their time is coming sooner than u think.


	4. Kise Ryouta

 I, Kuroko Tetsuya am a observer.

And the one thing I have observed about some people that I find especially strange is the common need to live that glamorous life. 

I Kuroko Tetsuya, live a completely average life. 

I went to school; I obtained a degree as a teacher; I work a simple and quiet job teaching children. 

I live a quiet life. 

And I loved this quiet life of mine. 

So when I heard those words,

 

_“ I want you,”_

 

When I first saw that knowing and calculative smirk of his... that dangerously alluring smirk of his,

 

I felt as if for the first time, I was being gently tugged away from the life I had come to love.

Who was Akashi Seijuro, and why in the world was he able to compel this feeling to bloom inside of me?

I blinked a couple of times, as Akashi’s words did not register in my head.

“ You want me?”

Akashi smirked. “ Yes, Tetsuya. I want you. As you can see, I just fired another useless personal assistant of mine, and am in desperate need of a new one.”

I let out a breath of relief, although I didn’t miss the slight drop of disappointment in my chest.

Of course. 

Of course that's what he meant. 

Kuroko Tetsuya, I frowned at myself. You've had an entire week to think this through. You've had a week to realize that he's not good for you. 

Learn.

“ The problem is my assistants never last long,” Akashi continued, his fingers leaving my face. “ Of course that’s where you’ll be much more useful.”

I frowned. “ You don’t mean…”

“ Yes, Tetsuya,” Akashi confirmed with a cold smile. “ Work as my personal assistant until I deem you to be useless and you can keep your little orphanage. It’s much more troublesome for me to find new replacement assistants every week than it is to find a new location for our most recent project.”

Every week? Just how scary of a boss could Akashi be for assistants to quit their job on a weekly basis? As if he had seemingly read my thoughts, Akashi leaned back and crossed his arms.

“ Of course you will have to see to my each and every demand. And do not think that your work ends when you go home, Tetsuya. You are my personal assistant every minute of every day.”

I hadn’t even agreed to it yet and he was already speaking as though the deal was set in stone.

Although…it wasn’t as if I had a better choice, do I?

I sighed and set as much determination as I could possibly muster onto my usual poker face.

Everything in me was screaming at me to tell him no, no I wouldn’t do it.

It was a strange gut feeling; as if if I took him up on this offer, there would be no going back.

“ I understand,” I told him anyway.

Akashi smiled, as if he had attained another victory of some sort. “ Good.”

“ Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking,” I said, remembering the documents, “ but could we make this official by contract?”

“ Smart choice,” Akashi commented, amusement returning to his cold eyes. “ But I’ll have you know that I am a man of my word, Tetsuya. If you work for me, I guarantee I will not touch the orphanage.”

I nodded. Somehow, I trusted him on that part.

Akashi Seijuro may seem like a callous and manipulative man, but he did also seem like an honourable one.

“ When do I start?”

Akashi made his way over to his desk to retrieve his brief case. He tossed it to me lightly, but I still stumbled upon catching it.

“ You start now,” he replied a-matter-of-factly. “ I am going to the back up location for this project. I must sign the contract with the other party and inform the rest of the company that we will not be buying Hikari Orphanage anymore.”

He brushed past me and threw the double doors open with ease and grace, a gesture I couldn’t help but find entrancing.

“ Akashi kun,” I called out as I realized he was serious. He was actually going to make me go with him when I knew nothing about anything. “ Wait, um, I apologize, but I’m afraid I don’t know anything…”

Akashi just stared at me like I was an idiot. “ Of course you don’t Tetsuya,” He said, “ You are merely an assistant. You are not supposed to know anything. Your job is to come to my every need and demand, and nothing else. Why would I need an assistant who knows a lot when I can do everything myself?”

I couldn’t help but wonder if Akashi was confused between the term assistant and servant. It was obvious that he was not looking for someone smart or knowledgeable, per say as an assistant since he hired me; someone who had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever in business or finance.

And yet…

Yet, I smiled despite of myself as I watched Akashi’s retreating figure in front of me. Perhaps Akashi truly did hire me upon a pure whim, but I could still tell that he was someone who was always prepared. He was someone who was always looking forward, he could always see the path clearly before him, he always had a plan b.

I thought he was an admirable person.

Suddenly, Akashi turned around and threw an icy glare in my direction. I shuddered in response.

“ Tetsuya,” he warned. “ You are moving too slowly. I despise when my assistants cannot keep up with me. Hurry along, now.”

With a gulp, I picked up my pace as I was told.

Somehow, I had a feeling that I’ve just entered a world I was completely not prepared for.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The meeting took less time than I thought it would.

I spent most of my time reflecting upon my life and what I have gotten myself into, all while rejoicing silently on the inside that I had managed to save the orphanage. At least I did one thing right.

The only things Akashi had me do was hold his bag and hand him the files he needed.A couple times, he would tell me to retrieve a certain file and would glare at me when I took too long to find it. I would then proceed to shrink back in intimidation.

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi commanded, turning to me, “ find the document on shares for this project…in the other pocket, Tetsuya…..no the front one.”

I scrambled to pull out the document.

The owner of the old building we were currently in chuckled. “ Not the brightest is he, eh?” The old man tried joking with Akashi. “ What, did he start today or something?”

I willed my face to not betray any sign of emotion as I just quietly sat there, waiting for further instructions from Akashi.

Just ignore him, I told myself, though it was true that I was pretty terrible at this job.

I noticed Akashi’s red and yellow eyes flash in annoyance before he regained his usual poker face. He tilted his chin and stared the other party down with those dangerously miss matched eyes of his.

“ Yes, he started just an hour and forty one minutes ago actually,” Akashi replied in a clipped tone. I widened my eyes at him defending me.

That surprised me.

The other man visibly cowered before Akashi’s dominating presence and stood up weakly to offer a handshake. Akashi stared at the man’s trembling hand for a long moment and the man nervously avoided eye contact.

“ A handshake is not necessary,” Akashi said after a while, “ It was good doing business with you, Takahashi.”

“ R-right,” Takahashi mumbled as he awkwardly set his hand down at his side.

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi commanded, while he flung his coat over his shoulders in one fluid motion, “ we’re leaving. Tell the driver to come around the building.”

 

 

 

 

Akashi rested his chin in his hands as he looked out the car window.

My gaze traveled over to his eyes which were rested shut. His long eyelashes fanned over the top of his cheeks and created a light taupe shadow. I thought about how cold he was to Takahashi, the owner of that building he bought today. Was this what people meant by not wanting to get on Akashi’s bad side? I wondered what that man ever did to get on Akashi’s bad side.

“ Are you thinking that I was being too harsh to that man up there?” Akashi asked me with his eyes still closed.

I flinched as he basically read my mind. I was quiet for a moment before speaking.

“ Yes,” I replied. “ Akashi kun is very observant.”

Akashi opened his eyes and I saw almost what seemed like a hint of humour in them, but it was gone the next second. His lips crinkled up to an amused smirk.

“ You are very honest, Tetsuya.”

“ Is it not good to be honest?”

Surprise flickered across Akashi’s face and I blinked in confusion. Was what I said weird?

“ No…” Akashi trailed off. “ It is indeed good to be honest.”

I glanced away as I felt my cheeks heat up in response.

“ That man is not an honest business man,” Akashi stated after a moment of silence. I glanced over again as he explained. “ He is the type of person who would do anything to make a profit; faulty products, ineffective medicine, it doesn’t matter to him what the company who’s buying his land does, he will sell and invest in any company who is willing to pay him money. And I despise scum like him.”

I was quiet while listening to Akashi’s words. “ ….Akashi kun is a kind person,” I noted quietly.

Akashi chuckled under his breath upon hearing this and cracked a genuine smile. “ That is something I have never heard from anyone in my entire life.”

“ Really?”

 

“ Yes.” Silence again.

“ I’m sorry I was not efficient today,” I said after a while.

“ I didn’t expect you to be,” Akashi replied. “ But I did expect you to try your best, and you did not fall short of my expectations, so well done Tetsuya.”

Warmth spread in my chest as I took in his words.

“ As I thought,” I whispered with a small smile. “ Akashi kun is kind after all.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“ Tetsuya, accompany me tonight for dinner. I’ve already made reservations at a near by restaurant.”

I froze upon hearing this and turned nervously to face him while having only my arm through the sleeve of my jacket. We were back at Akashi’s office and the sky outside was a dark ombre blue, painted with a splash of bright vermillion. Most of the workers in the building have left already.

“ I-Is that a part of my job, too?”

Akashi flashed me a cold glare.

“ Are you saying that you would not dine with me unless it was a part of your job, Tetsuya? Also, I do recall telling you that as my personal assistant, you are at work every minute of everyday.”

"...Yes, I understand," I murmured.

 

 “ Good,” Akashi replied in a smug voice.

Suddenly, there was a loud ping, followed by another, then another. As the pings kept on sounding while Akashi checked his phone in annoyance, I wondered who in the world could possibly be brave enough to spam text Akashi Seijuro. Akashi’s smug look melted off his face as an annoyed expression replaced it.

He took out the battery of his phone with an annoyed ‘tch,’ and turned to face me.

“ I am sorry Tetsuya, but it seems that we must await for a certain guest before we may go enjoy our dinner.”

I shook my head.

“ I don’t mind, Akashi kun.”

We made our way down to the lobby.

Akashi was quiet the entire way, I could almost feel the tendrils of annoyance rolling off of him. The elevator doors pinged open on a melodious tri tone, and then---

_“ Tetsu!”_

I turned around in surprise as I saw Aomine bounding towards me with a couple security guards in tow. My eyes widened in surprise when I realized that I wasn’t seeing things.

“ Aomine kun?”

Akashi glanced at me with a raised eye brow.

“ Do you know him?”

“ Yes,” I replied slowly, watching with slow horror as my idiot of a best friend wrestled with the security guards. “ He’s my best friend, Aomine Daiki.”

“ Let him go,” Akashi commanded. The security guards released him immediately and Aomine jumped up, brushing off his clothes. “ That’s right, you bastards,” he scoffed hotly. “ I told you I knew him.”

“ Aomine kun,” I said in exasperation, “ what in the world are you doing here? And why are you, a police officer of all people causing trouble?”

“ What are you talking about?” He questioned. “ I got a call from the orphanage saying that you went to argue with some really big company about legal rights over the orphanage, and never returned after that. Mabuchi was really worried. Said you might have gotten yourself killed or something.”

“ Aomine kun,” I dead panned. “ don’t you know by now that you shouldn’t listen to what Mabuchi san says? She exaggerates everything a thousand fold.”

I shifted nervously as I felt Akashi’s eyes on me. Aomine seemed to notice too and shifted his attention to the red head beside me.

“ Huh? Who are you?”

“ Um, this is—-“

Akashi stopped me mid sentence and turned to face Aomine.

“ I am Akashi Seijuro, the owner of this company,” Akashi replied, “ and Im Tetsuya’s boss.”

Aomine looked taken aback and looked to me for confirmation. He took my silence as a yes and continued to stare down Akashi.

“ You forced Tetsu to work under you?!” He asked incredulously.

“ Aomine kun!” I said, flabbergasted at how slow he really was.

“ I did not force Tetsuya to work under me,” Akashi said, mocking Aomine’s choice of words.

I tried to push Aomine towards the door, but he wouldn’t budge.

“ Please go home, Aomine kun!”

Aomine ignored me.

“ Hah? If you didn’t force him to work under you then why would he willingly work for an asshole like you?”

I froze at Aomine’s words. What the heck was he doing? Did he want to die? Did he come here to die? I slowly turned to look at Akashi, and noticed that he did not look amused.

“ And why exactly am I suddenly an “asshole?” “ Akashi asked slowly in a dangerously calm voice.

Aomine scoffed and stuffed his hands into his pocket. “ You’re the one aren’t you?”

Oh no. He wasn’t going to talk about—-

“ The guy who played with Tetsu for a night then tossed him aside the next morning?”

I was almost too scared to look at Akashi’s face after that. What was he going to think after hearing that? That I was expecting our one night to be something more?

The deafening silence that came after that was almost too loud. Akashi’s face was unreadable when I turned to meet his smouldering gaze. He stared at me like he could see right through me and I just stared back, not sure of what to say.

The silence continued on.

Even Aomine seemed to notice his mistake and shifted nervously at the awkward silence filling the air.

 

 

_“ Akashicchi! Guess who’s back~”_ A loud and very, very familiar voice sounded from behind us.

Very...very familiar. 

My eyes widened as I immediately recognized that voice. 

I glanced at Aomine and noticed that his attention had completely shifted else where at the sound of that voice. His eyes were wide with recognition and I swore I saw every single emotion flicker across those dark blue eyes of his.

I turned around as well and there he was.

Blonde hair cropped shorter than the last time we’ve seen him, skin radiant with a glow of happiness, and a pair of huge over sized designer sunglasses covering his beautiful amber eyes.

The person we both thought we had lost.

The person we both thought we would never see again.

 

Kise Ryouta.

 

Kise Stopped short of us as his eyes landed upon Aomine.

The smile he was wearing slowly faded away as the face he probably haven’t seen in a whole six years as well suddenly appeared right before him.

“ Ki…” Aomine stuttered.

“ Ryouta,” Akashi snapped, ignoring the tense atmosphere between the tall blue haired man and the blonde model. “ You’re late. And I told you to not text me. How many times must i tell you that I do not text?”

Kise’s eyes reluctantly drifted away from Aomine and landed on me.

Suddenly his eyes lit up like a child’s would on christmas morning and a huge smile formed across his face. I watched as he leapt towards me in two short strides, brushing past a shaken up Aomine who clearly had no idea what was going on. Not like I did either. And then, his arms were around me and I felt myself being lifted off the ground as if I weighed nothing at all.

“ Wha—Kise kun!” I complained in a voice full of a mix of annoyance, fondness, and shock.

I couldn’t believe that he was here.

He was actually here.

It felt so weird to feel that familiar feeling of his arms around me. Nostalgia hit as a wave of memories.

“ Kurokocchi!” Kise exclaimed, laughing and blubbering with tears at the same time. “ It’s really you, Kurokocchi! I’ve missed you so much! How long has it been, how long has it been, huh? You look exactly the same!”

I’ve missed Kise too; more than I let on, actually. And even though I was rejoicing inside to see his face before me once again, I couldn't help but notice Aomine staring at us from the corner of my eye. I thought back to how Kise had just brushed past Aomine as if he didn’t even exist. It was such a un-Kise-like thing to do.

“ Kise kun, please let go of me,” I said, pushing him away.

Kise’s eyes filled with tears upon hearing my rejection.

“ Wah, Kurokocchi is so mean! I haven’t seen you in six years and you don’t even say you’ve missed me!”

“ I see you everyday on TV, it’s like you’ve never left,” I lied.

“ How hurtful!”

“ Ryouta——“

“ Ne, ne, Kurokocchi,” Kise continued, completely ignoring Akashi.

I felt the room go cold as Akashi visibly grew more and more annoyed while Aomine just stood there stupidly, not sure of what to do.

“ Let’s go catch up! Right now! I know this really good restaurant I can—“

“ Ryouta,” Akashi hissed.

Kise finally stopped talking and tore his eyes away from me to look at the irked Akashi with a sheepish smile.

“ You will not take Tetsuya out tonight, because he is coming with me.”

“ Ehhh?” Kise complained. “ But we haven’t seen each other in so long!”

“ Does it look like I care?”

“ Give me Kurokocchi!”

“ No.”

“ Akashicchi~”

“ I said, no.”

I couldn’t help but notice Aomine’s crest fallen expression as he slowly realized that Kise had no plans in having a heart felt reunion with him.

I silently wondered what happened to drive those two who used to love each other so much, apart like this. Even if they haven’t seen each other for so long, knowing Kise, he would have jumped Aomine first and smothered him with a long passionate kiss before proceeding to shower me with love.

“ Why don’t we all go?” I heard myself say.

I silently screamed at myself for doing something unnecessary once again.

But…I looked at Aomine who’s never looked so lost in his entire life.

“ Tetsuya?” Akashi questioned.

“ All of us,” I confirmed.

There was no going back now.

I could kiss that quiet and drama free life of mine good bye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all enjoyed. Aomine and Kise finally meet each other after such a long time. That couple gives me so many feels to write about. Ha ha.


	5. For future Reference

 I’ve never been the type of person to feel uncomfortable in certain situations, but tonight was the one exception.

I eyed my surroundings warily as waiters scurried about to place fancy looking utensils before me. It always boggled my mind why wealthy people had to eat certain foods with certain utensils. A pair of chopsticks does the job pretty well for me most of the time.

The restaurant Akashi chose was probably one of the classiest restaurants in the entire city. It was located on top of a huge sky scraper, with 360 degree windows, giving us a magnificent view of the busy Tokyo beneath us. The interior was no small feat either. I took in the beautiful gold etchings in the ceiling and the huge crystal chandelier hanging above us. After a while of admiring the fancy lights, my eyes trailed to the person sitting before me.

Akashi sat gracefully like he belonged, which he completely did. This was his world, i realized. With his eyes closed and fingers curled around a crystal goblet, swishing the expensive wine I couldn’t even pronounce, he looked right at home. He seemed to realize i was staring at him and opened his eyes, fixing his steady gaze upon me. I glanced away involuntarily and ended up staring at Kise and Aomine instead.

Kise sat with his chin rested on his palm and his sunglasses perched on the top of his blonde head. His eyes were glued to his phone, but I noticed that he would occasionally glance up and at Aomine who sat across from him. At first, he wanted to sit in front of me, but Akashi forbid him to do so and he wounded up sitting beside me instead. Not that sitting beside me made anything better. Aomine sat there tensely with his gaze fixated upon the blonde before him. I could almost hear the gears grinding in his slow brain, trying to think of something, anything to say to his boyfriend whom he hasn’t seen in six years.

“ Kise kun, how do you know Akashi kun?”

“ Huh?” Kise replied. “ Im the face of the new phone they’re coming out with. And besides, we go waaayy back, right Akashicchi?”

“ Im afraid its true,” Akashi admitted reluctantly. “ I met Ryouta in France five years ago. I was there for a business conference, and Ryouta had just began walking the runways back then. I didn’t know he would make it this far as a model. It’s very surprising.”

“ What is that supposed to mean?!”

“ I mean what I say.”

“ Akashicchi is so mean!”

“ Ryouta,” Akashi said, sending Kise an irritated scowl, “ Must you sit so insufferably close to Tetsuya?”

It was true that Kise was sitting extremely close to me. He had shuffled his chair over so that the legs of our chairs were side by side. Kise pouted and flung his arms around my shoulders again.

“ Eh, but I missed Kurokocchi so much! I’m making up for lost time. Making up!”

“ Tetsuya is my personal assistant,” Akashi insisted, eyes completely cold. “ You should know that I do not like what is mine to be touched by others, Ryouta.”

“ I do not belong to you, Akashi kun,” I said. “ I work for you.”

Kise burst out laughing as tears glistened in the corners of his eyes. He grinned and turned to Akashi. “ Akashicchi! You’ve finally met your match.”

Akashi raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow as he eyed me in amusement.

He seemed to do that a lot.

Look at me amusingly, I mean. Truthfully, it made me nervous. It was as if he had me all figured out or something. Like he could see right through me. I cleared my throat and glanced at Aomine who was just fingering the rim of his untouched wine glass.

This wasn’t good, he was just sitting there.

I sighed inwardly as I realized that he must have gotten quite a shock from Kise completely giving him the cold shoulder. But truth be told, I didn’t really know what to say in this situation either. It isn’t everyday that you have dinner at a seven star restaurant with your boss who is also coincidentally the man you had a one night stand with just the night before, your best friend who seemed to be in a vegetative state, and your best friend’s boyfriend who mysteriously left six years ago, and came back just as randomly. Everything about this setting was just wrong. I silently cursed myself for thinking this would be good for the two of them in anyway. It wasn’t like they could talk with Akashi and I here. I discreetly typed a message to Aomine.

What are you doing Aomine kun? You’ve waited for this day for 6 years. Talk to him.

-sent 8:43

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket shortly after.

I can’t.

-received 8:44

I can’t?

What does he mean, I can’t?

What is stopping you?

-sent 8:44

He forgot about me. He’s completely forgotten about me.

-received 8:45

My brows furrowed as I read the text.

Aomine kun. Are you stupid? It is impossible that Kise kun has forgotten about you. He was in love with you. Now please talk to him.

-sent 8:45

I looked up and met Aomine’s eyes. I realized instantly that his answer was no. He was just going to wimp out. I frowned and kicked him under the table.

“ So,” Kise said to Aomine casually, surprising us both, “ what have you been up to since the last time I saw you? You’ve gotten a lot quieter.”

When Aomine didn't reply, I kicked him again. Only this time, I kicked him harder.

“ Holy f——“ Aomine swore as he received my blow. “ Uh, crime.”

Kise widened his eyes and Aomine shook his head.

“ Wait, no. I uh, I meant I deal with people who commit crime. I’m a police officer,” Aomine clarified in panic.

I did a mental face palm as I silently judged my best friend form across the table.

“ Oh…you scared me there for a second.”

“ So I take it that you all know each other from school?” Akashi questioned.

I nodded. “ We went to the same middle school and high school, and we played on the same basketball team.”

Akashi nodded thoughtfully and flashed me a small smile.

“ I have to admit that I can’t really envision you playing basketball, Tetsuya.”

“ Kurokocchi is good!” Kise inputed.

My face didn’t show it, but I was happy on the inside.

“ Really?” Akashi mused, lifting his wine glass to his mouth. A small smile played on his lips as his eyes never left mine. “ I’ll have to play with you one day, then. I’m quite the basketball player myself.”

“ I can’t imagine Akashi kun playing basketball either,” I told him.

“ Oh? And why not?”

“ You seem like the type of person who would play a classier sport, like tennis maybe. Or golf. You know, the things wealthy people play.”

Akashi smirked. “ Ah, actually, I do play all those things. You are not wrong Tetsuya.”

It figured.

“ But it is also true that I like basketball the most of all those sports that I play.”

“ That is unexpected.”

A silence fell upon us as we turned our attention to the food which was placed before us. I listened to the quiet tinkle of silver utensils against cool white porcelain as I continued to watch my two best friends dine in uncomfortable silence. A part of me wanted to just stand up and demand Kise to tell us why it is that he left, what went wrong between him and Aomine, why he didn’t contact us for so long. I wanted to know. But the more logical part of me knew that whatever happened between them should be dealt with only between them. If Kise had really wanted to share what had happened, he wouldn’t have left me that night without telling me why. My phone buzzed again in my pocket.

Did Kise somehow get hotter? Is it just me, Tetsu? Is it even possible for him to become prettier than before?

-received 9:30

I nearly spat out my steak as I read his message.

Aomine kun. Why in the world would you tell me this? You should be telling Kise kun, not me. Talk. To. Him.

-sent 9:30

What do you expect me to say? Kise, where the fuck have you been for the past six years? Why did you leave without telling me? What are we supposed to be now?

-received 9:32

 

 

Yes.

-sent 9:32

 

Aomine shot me an incredulous look as we both looked up form our phones. I didn’t even know what was the point of texting each other. We were making it pretty obvious anyway. I sighed and decided it was time to intervene even if I didn’t want to.

“ Um, Akashi kun,” I said suddenly. “ I don’t feel very well, all the sudden. Do you think you could take me home?”

Akashi glanced up in surprise, before realization settled in. He must have caught on to the situation the moment Kise and Aomine saw each other at the lobby. He dabbed his lips elegantly with a napkin before getting up from his chair. He swung his jacket over his shoulders and came to my side.

“ Let’s go.”

I silently got up and followed him, ignoring the panicked looks Aomine was flashing me from the corner of my eye.

Kise frowned and caught hold of my hand. “ Wait, Kurokocchi. I’ll drive you, my car is parked just outside—“

“ There is no need,” Akashi interrupted.

I felt him pull me to his side as he snaked an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. My heart did a little flip flop in my chest. “ I will get the tab. Ryouta, make sure you don't get home too late. You have a meeting with us tomorrow morning."

“ Eh?…Okay.”

“ Good bye, Kise kun. Aomine kun.”

Kise waved in farewell as Akashi lead me out of the restaurant.

I felt my phone buzz again and again. It was probably Aomine sending me death threats and telling me to come back, but I ignored them. He needed this. They both needed this.

“ Well, Tetsuya? Where would you like to go now? I assume you’re not actually sick?”

I looked up to see Akashi’s face looming before mine, his one golden eye reflecting beautifully under the colourful lights of the city.

“ Aren’t you going to ask about them?”

Akashi shook his head.

“ No, there is no need for me to know about their history. I am not interested in them.”

What are you interested in then? I wanted to ask.

I blinked as I realized that I was genuinely curious as to what kind of person Akashi truly was. He always seemed so distant even when he was so close. When he smiled, his eyes would always remain cold, emotionless.

Who is Akashi Seijuro, really?

“ Come to my place,” Akashi said suddenly.

“ Akashi kun?”

“ Come to my place,” Akashi repeated. “ I want you to know more about me.”

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

For a moment there, I actually thought that Akashi had read my mind.

Literally.

But as I stared at the huge binder played out before me, I realized that he meant ‘ getting to know him’ in a completely different way.

“ I have to remember all of this?” I asked him weakly, flipping through the countless pages of information on just the type of wine that Akashi enjoyed.

Akashi sipped his coffee with his eyes closed and a sadistic smile upon his lips.

“ Of course, Tetsuya,” he replied. “ Did you think being my personal assistant would be a simple job?”

“ I feel like I’ve returned to high school,” I muttered, trying not to imagine the next few days I’ll have to spend poured over all these documents. Now it made more sense as to why all of Akashi’s previous assistants quit.

“ Ah, speaking of which,” Akashi murmured. “ Why don’t I take you on a tour of my house. You’ll be coming here often from now on anyway.”

And so he did.

I never realized how multi talented Akashi Seijuro was.

I’ve already seen all his horse riding trophies, his piano trophies…his academic trophies….there were a heck lot of trophies. We came across his office and I paused.

“ Violin?” I murmured with a small smile as I fingered the instrument lying across the huge red oak desk in his office. “ I didn’t know you could play. Are you good?”

Akashi raised an eyebrow.

“ Did you forget with whom you’re speaking to Tetsuya? Good? I am amazing.”

I chuckled under my breath.

“ Akashi kun is very confident.”

Akashi smirked. My eyes trailed to a picture frame beside the violin.

“ Is this your mother?” I asked, and immediately realized it was the wrong question to ask.

Akashi froze as his eyes flashed while he knocked the picture frame over.

“ No. That wasn’t anything important,” he stated.

I fell silent as I thought back to that woman with the red hair.

Akashi was the splitting image of her. I decided to drop the subject.

“ Is there anything else you would like to know about me?”

I paused for a second before nodding.

There was one thing that has been on my mind.

“ Yes. I would like to know why you like basketball the most.”

Akashi seemed to be caught off guard by my question as his usual steely gaze fell for just one second, and in that one short second, I swore I saw real, raw emotions behind those beautiful, yet usually ice cold red and gold eyes.

“ There is no reason,” Akashi said after regaining his composure. “ Does one need to enjoy something to do said thing?”

“ Of course,” I answered immediately. “ It’d be a waste if you didn’t enjoy it, wouldn’t it be?”

Akashi laughed one sharp laugh.

“ You are interesting after all, Tetsuya. Allow me to enlighten you. I only do the things I do in order to succeed. In this world, the only things that matters to me is victory, nothing else.”

I was quiet as I took this in.

“ I don’t understand you, Akashi kun,” I said helplessly after a while. “ Is victory, success…are all those things really all that important?”

“ It is,” came the firm and assertive response.

We were both silent for a moment as I pondered about the man beside me.

Akashi Seijuro.

He was named by dozens of magazines as Japan’s number one young and successful Business man. He was named by a dozen others as the most desired. He was the heir to the Akashi enterprise, one of the biggest corporations in all of Asia, and he was the CEO of the leading electronics brand, a huge company where tens and thousands of people worked at.

And yet… Yet that couldn’t be it could it?

Akashi couldn’t be just all the things he has achieved in his life. There had to be more. What were his quirks? What annoys him? ….Who was he?

I wanted to find out.

I couldn’t even explain it myself, but in that moment, as I was leaning against Akashi’s posh red oak desk, which was probably imported from some country I couldn’t pronounce properly for the love of my life, I realized that Akashi Seijuro intrigued me. I wanted to dig past those icy stone walls he had built around himself, I wanted to tear them down. I don’t know how exactly I felt about this man, but whatever it was, it was strong.

 

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi said suddenly.

 

 

I turned my head towards his voice and almost jumped back in shock at the proximity of his face. He was leaning in towards me, his hands placed next to mine as his hands wrapped around the base of my neck, pulling me towards him.

Before I could ask what the hell he was doing, he was kissing me, lips crushing mine as I felt electricity rush throughout my entire body. My heart was suddenly at ten thousand miles per hour as Akashi pushed me down onto his desk, arms caged around my neck. My breath hitched as I felt his hand slide up my shirt.

“ Akashi kun,” I whispered. “ Akashi kun, stop.”

I felt his lips pause at the base of my throat as he glanced up, eyes piercing through mine.

Those eyes…

“ What is it?”

“ Wh-what are you doing?”

“ What does it look like I am doing Tetsuya?”

I frowned. I didn’t understand him at all.

“ I understand what you are doing,” I clarified, shifting uncomfortably. “ What I want to know is why?”

Akashi sighed irritably and sat up away from me. He loosened his tie and peered down at me through cold eyes.

“ Do I need a reason?”

My hands tightened as I met his ice cold gaze square on.

“ The first time it happened…this happened, we were both acting under the influence of alcohol. You made it very clear after that it was a one time thing. Why has that changed now?”

I cleared my throat when Akashi didn’t answer. “ I really don’t understand you, Akashi kun. You tell me to be your personal assistant, you take me to dinner at a very expensive restaurant, you took me home, you kissed me…Do you…do you have feelings for me?”

“ I don’t,” Akashi replied bluntly. “ I do not need a reason to do certain things, Tetsuya. I do them because I want to. And I asked you to be my assistant because you were there. I took you to dinner because I wanted to, much like how I kissed you because I wanted to. It’s as simple as that.”

“ And for future references Tetsuya, please do not ask me stupid things such as whether or not I have feelings for you. Those questions are the type which I hate the most.”

I felt my lips tighten to a straight line as I listened in stony silence.

Who the heck did he think he was? What? Just because he was some wealthy heir, did he think he could treat others like they were nothing?

I inwardly laughed at myself for once again, thinking too much into the situation. It was always like this. I would get caught up in the moment, I would assume things one-sidedly, and before I knew it, my feelings would also be one sided.

Not this time, I told myself.

“ I understand,” I said. Akashi wore a smirk of victory as he leaned in towards me once again.

“ Good,” He whispered, lips nearing mine.

That arrogant, assuming——

“ But for your future references, Akashi kun,” I said, leaning away, “ I think we should keep our relationship strictly professional. Firstly, I don’t believe in being casual hook up friends.”

Akashi paused, his face just an inch away from mine. I could feel his cool breath on my face.

“ …And secondly?”

I blinked away any hesitation I felt.

“ And secondly I don’t wish to do things that are meant to be done with someone you love, with someone who doesn’t feel a single thing for me.”

Surprise flickered across Akashi’s eyes as he leaned away.

I would guess that no one’s ever turned him down like I had.

“ …You are more defiant than you look, Tetsuya,” he said in a dangerously low tone. “ But I will be understanding just this once. You may go home now. Your presence is no longer needed for tonight.” I stood up with as much dignity as I could possibly muster for someone who just got kicked out for refusing to have sex.

That's right, Kuroko, I told myself. That's all you were to him, and all you ever will be to him. 

He doesn't need you.

And you sure as hell don't need him. Put these petty feelings of yours behind you. 

 

“ Good night, Akashi kun,” I said quietly, but firmly. “ I will see you tomorrow morning.”

He nodded in farewell as I left, his stare following me all the way out the door.

 

I didn’t realize I had left my phone at Akashi’s house until I was at the huge iron gates, and that was when I noticed that my pockets were empty.

I groaned. I needed my phone since I didn’t have much money on me. It was enough to take the bus, but I suspect that there wont be a single bus stop near here for at least another ten blocks. With a sigh, I squared my shoulders as I prepared myself to sadly enter Akashi’s house once again. I’ll need my phone to call Aomine to pick me up. But as I stepped into the front door, which was still unlocked, I realized that Akashi was talking to someone.

“ Yes? Yes, I understand,” I heard him say.

Who was he talking to? I wondered, his tone was so uncharacteristically demure sounding.

“ I will do that the first thing tomorrow….yes. Good night, father.”

Ah, he was speaking to his dad. I shook my head as I smiled at the weird thought that even someone like Akashi had people he needed to obey.

“ Wait!” Akashi interrupted. I perked up at the sudden change in tone of his voice. “ Father…um, tomorrow. Do you know what day tomorrow is?” There was a pause. “ It’s mother’s death anniversary. Do you think you will you c——” Akashi said in a nonchalant tone.

I paused at that voice. At first it sounded so apathetic, as if Akashi had just stated a completely random fact, but then I heard it.

The strain; the nervous, almost , hesitation. The way he paused for a short millisecond at the last two words. I watched as Akashi’s shoulders slouched.

“ Right, of course I understand,” Akashi continued, his voice bitter. “ You are a very busy man after all, father. Yes…yes, I will speak to you when the project has been confirmed… Good night.”

I don’t know how long I stood there for, just watching him. Suddenly, Akashi tensed.

“ …Well?” Akashi said suddenly. “ How long will you stand there for, Tetsuya?”

I jumped at the sound of his voice.

“ S-sorry,” I stuttered. “ I think I left my phone here…”

Akashi pointed to the countertop without turning around. I quickly retrieved it and turned to leave.

“ Th-thanks,” I muttered. At the last moment, I turned around. “ Um, Akashi kun—-“

“ I will see you tomorrow, Tetsuya. Don’t be late.”

It was obvious that he wanted to be left alone.

“ …Right.”

I dragged my eyes away from the man standing with his back facing me.

The man I might have misunderstood. The man I seem to once again, know nothing about.

I opened my mouth to say good night, but was interrupted by the buzz of my phone. I frowned at the unknown caller.

“…Hello?” “ Tetsuuuu? Is it Testu?”

I blinked as I recognized Aomine’s voice. Or should I say, Aomine’s drunk voice.

Akashi turned around, his face void of emotion as he regarded me with a raised eyebrow.

Who is that? He seemed to ask.

I sighed. “ Aomine kun, are you drinking again? Where are you? Wait, who’s phone is this?”

“ HUh???? Tetsuuuu, you know, that bastard, Kise that bastard—-“

“ Hey! Isn’t that my phone?” I heard someone shout in the background. My eyes widened.

“ Aomine kun. Just tell me where you are right now.”

“ He said he’s o..over me yaknow? Over me, he’s—-“

“ Hello? Who is this?” A new, and very annoyed voice sounded. “ Actually, I don’t care who you are. Just come to the NO.5 bar right now and pick up your drunk ass of a friend. He’s disturbing people with his noise.”

“ I understand,” I replied. “ Please take care of—-“

But the person already hung up. I stared at my phone in disappointment.

Really? Again, Aomine kun? I thought to myself.

“ Tetsuya? What happened?”

I bit my lip apologetically.

“ Um, Akashi kun, I think I need your help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long chapter this time. Hope you all caught what happened :D  
> Surprise. Akashi isn't as nice as some of you thought. But no worries. His moments with his sweet Tetsuya will come.  
> What do you guys think happened between Aomine and Kise?


	6. I didn't come back for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo~  
> Greetings from shanghai, China. :D   
> I am on Vacation now and i was so happy that AO3 isn't banned here, cause China is difficult and bans the two sites I love the most. ( Facebook and Youtube.)  
> This chapter is going to be in third person rather than Kuroko's point of view, since this is a total Aokise entered chapter. Hope y'all enjoy~

_Aomine didn’t exactly consider himself the brightest of all people._

_He blinked multiple times through squinted eyes at the blonde who he considered his best friend in pure confusion. It was a sunny day that day, and Aomine and kise had just finished what could have been their hundredth match of that afternoon._

_Kise had one of his hands around Aomine’s wrist, the other one shielded his face._

_He was hiding his face, but Aomine could tell he was blushing from the deep flush of vermillion painted on his ears._

_“ Wha…Kise?” Aomine asked, a little concerned. Was he sick or something? “ What’s wrong?”_

_“ I…I have something to say,” Kise muttered._

_Aomine scratched his head, not really sure of what was happening. “ Okay, get on with it then.”_

_Kise peeked one golden eye through the gaps of his long and slender fingers cautiously as Aomine fidgeted impatiently. Slowly, he lowered his hand and took a deep breath. His eyes were a liquid butterscotch and full of anxiety._

_“ ...Aominecchi...,” Kise started, then bit his lip._

_“ Oi, just spit it out,” Aomine snapped, then paused when Kise’s eyes darkened. “ …Did something really happen?”_

_“ I like you!” Kise blurted suddenly._

_Aomine didn’t seem to understand what Kise meant since he cracked a grin upon hearing that._

_Aomine threw an arm around the blonde and pulled him into a playful one arm choke hold._

_“ What’s wrong with you today Kise? Getting all sentimental huh? Come on, stop being weird and let’s go to the convenience store and get some ice cream. Man, it’s really ho—-”_

_“ Aominecchi.”_

_Aomine stopped mid sentence at the serious tone of Kise’s voice._

_Kise closed his eyes and let his head fall onto Aomine’s shoulders._

_Aomine’s eyes widened at the sudden affectionate gesture and spluttered incoherent things as Kise just stood there without moving a muscle.There were many things going through Aomine’s mind at that point in time. He first of all wondered what the hell was up with Kise, since he usually saved all that affectionate stuff for Kuroko. He then wondered why he wasn’t doing anything about it, and why it didn’t bother him at all. He also questioned the most unimportant little things; like why Kise’s hair always smelled like a mixture of honey and lemons, no matter how much he was sweating after practice—-_

_“ I like you Aominecchi, I like you a lot.”_

_—-He wondered why his heart suddenly did a flip flop upon hearing those words._

_“ I like you…Aominecchi.”_

_“ I get it, I get it,” Aomine muttered reluctantly, awkwardly patting Kise on the head._

_And dear god, his hair was so soft… Kise shook his head against Aomine’s chest._

_“ You don’t get it. I like you, you know? I don’t like you in a way one would like a friend. I like you in a way where I want to kiss you, and hold your hand. I want to go on dates, and call each other by our first name only. I want to do nasty things that are not acceptable to do in public with you—-“_

_Aomine has heard enough._

_“ Okay, okay, stop! I get it, I get it, alright?”_

_Kise fell quiet as he watched Aomine run a hand roughly through his hair in embarrassment. Aomine deliberately avoided looking at Kise’s eyes, because dear lord those eyes would be the death of him one day._

_“ Ne, ne Aominecchi,” Kise stuttered with a shaky laugh. “ Say something, will you?”_

_But the problem was, you see, Aomine was not the brightest guy. And in the situation where your best friend who has a million girls after him confesses to you out of no where, Aomine was truly lost._

_What the hell was he supposed to say?_

_“ Wh..what am I supposed to say, you idiot?” He muttered, still refusing to make eye contact._

_And then, Aomine watched with slow horror as Kise’s warm amber eyes gleamed over in tears. It looked like he had literal stars in his eyes._

_“ I knew it!” Kise blubbered loudly, stepping away from Aomine. “ You like boobs after all. Aominecchi, you would never like me because you like boobs right, right?”_

_The whole situation would have been comical if Aomine hadn’t been panicking at the sight of tears rolling down Kise’s pretty face. He made Kise cry all the time before, and he would enjoy it every single time, but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to feel happy after hearing those words._

_“ Tell me the truth,” Kise continued with a sob, “ you think I’m disgusting now, don’t you? You won’t play basketball with me anymore, will you?”_

_“ Are you an idiot?” Aomine blurted and grabbed Kise’s hand without even thinking. “ I would never refuse a game with you. And for the record, I would never think you’re disgusting, you dumb ass. Why would you think that?”_

_Kise’s face flushed as Aomine dropped Kise’s hand when he realized he was still holding it._

_“ Sorry,” Aomine muttered._

_“ Well…um, you’re a guy, Aominecchi, and um..uh I’m a guy too. And I’m not sure if you’re against that kind of stuff…”_

_“ But I’m not against that stuff?” Aomine replied in a questioning tone. “ Why would I be? Tetsu likes guys too. It doesn’t bother me.”_

_There was a pause as Kise processed this information in his mind._

_“…Kurokocchi likes men?”_

_“..yes? I thought you knew?”_

_“ Ehhhh?” Kise blurted, eyes wide in surprise. “ But he never told me! Why would he tell you but not tell me, Aominecchi? That’s not fair!”_

_“ Hah? How should I know?” Aomine replied, scratching his head. “ He has a boyfriend, you know. That ass with the red hair, whats his name—“_

_“ Kagamicchi?” Kise shrieked, his confession from earlier completely forgotten, “ Kurokocchi is dating Kagamicchi?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!”_

_“ It’s probably because he secretly finds you annoying.”_

_“ Aominecchi, you’re so mean,” Kise cried._

_Aomine laughed and jokingly punched Kise's shoulder. “ Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean it.”_

_Kise grew quiet again as Aomine grinned._

_“ Hey, Aominecchi,” KIse whispered, “ I really do like you.”_

_There goes Aomine's heart again._

 

_“… I got it,” Aomine said quietly._

_A rare serendipitous silent fell upon them as they stood there, enjoying each other’s presence._

_“ Listen,” Aomine said after a while, breaking that silence. “ Give me…give me some time to think about it alright? I need to wrap my head around…all of this.”_

_Kise looked up in shock. “ You…you mean, you’ll actually consider it?”_

_“ Hah? Of course I would?” Aomine said then turned away and glanced at Kise through the corner of his eyes. His face a slightly bit more red than before. “ It’s you, after all, Kise.”_

_“…Aominecchi.”_

_“ But don’t get your hopes up too high, you idiot. I’m not saying I like you or anything, okay?” Aomine tried to clarify, his face getting unmistakably redder and redder._

_“…Aominecchi,” Kise trailed with the ghost of a smile upon his lips. Slowly, it bloomed to a full on grin. “ I didn’t notice before, but you’re a tsundere! You’re a total tsundere! Oh my god, this is hilarious!”_

_“ Oi, shut up. I’m not!”_

_“ Tsunderecchi! Aominecchi is a tsunderecchi!”_

_“ I said shut it!”_

_And then Kise spent the rest of that day calling Aomine a variety of names, including Tsundermine, Tsun-chan, and Tsunderecchi._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

_How did Aomine come to realize that he felt the same way about Kise?_

_Well, it began with a disturbing dream about a certain blonde doing certain things that he did not wish to speak of ever again. All he could disclose was that he had to wash his underwear the next morning._

_And that was when everything started to become weird around Kise._

_Whenever he came close to the blonde, his heart would react almost violently, as if Kise were his beloved Japanese models. But even with his Japanese models, it wasn’t his heart that reacted._

_He would catch himself staring at the nape of Kise’s neck, because apart from his face, Kise also had a very pretty neck. And whenever Kise smiled at him, he would feel as if he was walking on clouds or some cheesy shit like that._

_It was that bad._

_And that caused him to think. Really think._

_Was he straight?_

_Aomine was pretty sure he was._

_But did he want Kise?_

_Hell, Aomine was pretty sure he did._

_….So where exactly did that leave him?_

_“ Aominecchi?” Kise questioned, surprised as Aomine pulled him back. They were in the changing rooms and almost everyone had already left._

_“ Hey, stay behind today,” Aomine said. “ I need to talk to you.”_

_“ Eh, today?” Kise questioned worryingly with a glance to the petite blue haired boy changing beside them. “ But I promised Kurokocchi I would go to the—-“_

_“ Ah, I change my mind,” Kuroko interrupted in monotone. Aomine cringed at the how bad the guy was at lying. “ I think I will go meet with Kagami kun after all. I do not need you anymore today, Kise kun.”_

_“ Eh? Okay…” Kuroko lifted a hand in farewell, his voice still monotone. “ I will see you two tomorrow then.”_

_And then he was gone._

_Kise turned to Aomine with a bright smile._

_“ What is it, Aominecchi? It looks like I’m free after all.”_

_Aomine opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted once again._

_“ Kise!” He heard his coach call. “ Are you in there? Don’t leave yet! It’s your turn to clean up equipment.”_

_Kise frowned and turned around, about to answer, but before he could, Aomine suddenly had his hand covering his mouth and his other hand him into the corner where the lockers would hide them from plain view. Kise glanced up at Aomine who had his arms caged around him, pinning him to the wall of the changing room, rendering him both speechless, and motionless. There was the echoing of footsteps approaching them as the coach came in in search of Kise._

_“ Did he leave already?” They heard their coach grumble before hearing the fading echoes of his footsteps walking away._

_Aomine uncovered his hand from Kise’s mouth and Kise let out a small breath he didn’t know he had been holding._

_“ …Aominecchi?”_

_Aomine glanced down at Kise’s face which was just an inch away from his. He could count every single one of Kise’s long eyelashes as his resolve slowly deteriorated._

_Damn it all._

_Aomine let his face fall forward until his lips found Kise’s and leaned in towards the blonde, letting his full weight fall upon Kise’s body. He could tell he had surprised Kise as the model stood there,completely frozen in shock before Aomine felt his lips move in response. They broke apart after some time, both breathless, and both dizzy from the impromptu kiss._

_“..Wha…what?” Kise stuttered. “ What was that?”_

_Aomine didn’t know either. His body just moved on it’s own. It was as if he had no control at all._

_All he could see, All he could think about were Kise’s lips._

_Kise’s face before his._

_Kise…_

_Aomine closed his eyes as an uncontrollable laugh escaped from his lips._

_“ Oh man,” he chuckled, shaking his head, “ it’s even worse than I thought.”_

_“ Ao—”_

_“ Oi, Kise,” Aomine said. “ Listen up.”_

_Kise shut up at the sudden serious tone of Aomine’s voice._

_“ I’ve been thinking about you a lot these days. And when I say think about you, I mean it in the least innocent way you could imagine.” Kise’s face turned an interesting shade of pink as Aomine spoke._

_“ uh…Aomi—-“_

_“ I don't know what this all means, but I think I like you too.”_

_Kise paused as his entire world froze for a second._

_“…say that again?”_

_“ I like you, Kise—-” And then Aomine couldn’t speak, because Kise’s lips shut him up as he lost himself in the sweet kiss. Kise broke apart from Aomine with a grin._

_“ Hey, say it again?”_

_“ We can talk about those things later,” Aomine said, a little annoyed, as he wished to kiss the blond some more._

_“ I like you, Aominecchi,” Kise whispered. “ A lot. I like you a lot and a lot.”_

_Aomine felt his heart thump wildly in his chest._

_“ Idiot, I like you too.”_

 

* * *

 

 

 

Aomine replayed these memories again and again in his mind as he stared at the person sitting before him.

_Kise._

_Kise is right in front of me._

_Kise fucking Ryouta was sitting right in front of me._

_I should do something._

_Crap, why is he still so beautiful._

_God, his eyes. His eyes…_

 

Ping!

 

Just. Talk. To.Him.

-received at 9:27

Aomine scoffed inwardly at his best friends’s text message. It was easy for Kuroko to say. Talk to him? What the hell was he supposed to say? How in the world does one simply react to seeing one’s boyfriend after said boyfriend has been gone for close to six years?

At one point in time, Aomine had thought up the perfect plan for the day he meets Kise again. If he ever met kise again, that is.

He imagined he would remain completely level headed, and most preferably be well dressed. Aomine imagined he would grab Kise’s wrist; not roughly, but not gently either. He imagined staring into those liquid amber orbs of his, and he imagined pulling the blond in towards him. He imagined he would kiss him so damn hard, and so damn passionately that Kise would regret leaving for all those years and never leave his side ever again.

Well, you know what they say about plans.

They don’t really work out.

Aomine frowned.

What do you expect me to say? Kise, where the fuck have you been for the past six years? Why did you leave without telling me? What are we supposed to be now?

-sent 9:32

Ping!

 

 

Yes

-received 9:32

What? That Tetsu—-

Aomine glanced up to send a disapproving scowl in Kuroko’s direction, and paused when he saw his best friend’s eyes.

Oh crap. That look. It was that look. Aomine knew that look. Kuroko only ever had that glint in his eye when he was about to—-

“ Um, Akashi kun,” Kuroko said, “ I don’t feel very well, all the sudden. Do you think you could take me home?”

—-meddle.

Aomine wanted to scream as Akashi agreed and commanded Kuroko to get up. He didn’t understand.

He still didn’t know who this Akashi guy was, and why Kuroko looked so infatuated with him when it’s quite evident that he didn’t even know the man.

Don’t leave! He wanted to scream at Kuroko, but it was too late.

Aomine watched them leave together with desperation in his eyes. A million thoughts and a million possible scenarios ran through his mind as Aomine imagined being left alone with Kise.

Oi, Tetsu. I’m sorry, I’ll talk to him. Come back, will ya?

-sent 9:45

Your message has been sent.

No reply.

 

 

Tetsu. I’m really serious. Come back.

-sent 9:45

Your message has been sent.

No reply.

 

KUROKO TETSUYA YOU COME BACK RIGHT NOW YOU LITTLE SHI——

“ You look busy,” he heard that sweet lilting voice state.

Aomine glanced up to find Kise’s attention fixated on him, now that Kuroko was out of sight.

He would be lying if he were to say that it didn't hurt like a bitch that his own boyfriend (ex boyfriend?) was ignoring him in favour of his best friend.

Kise’s long eyelashes were cast downwards as he looked up from beneath them. His golden orbs were unreadable as the two stared at each other.

“ Oh, uh, it’s stuff….from work,” Aomine stuttered, glancing away from Kise’s watchful eyes.

“ Really?” Kiss murmured, lifting his wine glass to his lips, a small smile playing on them. “ so you work at the police force now, huh? Can’t say that I’m not surprised.”

“ Oh, yeah…it kinda just happened, you know?”

“ Hmnn…you sound kind of nervous.”

“ H-huh?” Kise laughed upon seeing Aomine’s blue eyes widen and fluster.

“ Say, Aomine,” Kise muttered, voice low.

Aomine froze at the sound of his name.

Aomine. Not Aominecchi.

So he was just Aomine now?

Aomine wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t even make a sound.

“ Why are you so nervous?”

“…How can I not be?” Aomine murmured.

Aomine cracked a smile as he lifted his eyes to meet Kise’s uncharacteristically cold ones.

There was no going back now.

“ You were gone, Kise. You disappeared, for six fucking years. You left me in pieces for six fucking years. You left me wondering where the hell you went for six god damned fucking years.”

Kise watched Aomine splutter with an unreadable face.

“ And then you just show up.”

Aomine took a deep breath.

“ So tell me Kise, where the hell have you been?”

Kise was quiet. His eyelashes fluttered downwards.

“ You know where I’ve been, Aomine. Paris, Milan, China, Korea. I’ve been everywhere.”

Aomine gritted his teeth.

“ You know that’s not what I meant. Why? I want to know why.”

Kise’s eyes flashed coldly.

“ Why? You’re asking me why I left? God Aomine, I can’t believe you would be so insufferable.”

Aomine’s heart stopped at how cold Kise sounded. He took in the model’s icy golden eyes which used to be the sweetest liquid honey, filled with warmth and kindness. He took in Kise’s beautiful face. Yes Kise was beautiful, but suddenly, Aomine realized that it wasn’t his Kise. Not the Kise he loved so dearly.

“ What the hell happened to you?….Kise?” Aomine muttered quietly.

“ Listen,” Kise sighed. “ Aomine, a lot has happened, and a lot of time has gone by…..and I’ve…changed. You’ve changed. Let’s not bring up the past, huh?”

“ Hah?” Aomine echoed, his nervousness from before completely gone as he grew angrier and angrier at the model’s confusing words.

“ Are you hearing what you’re saying? I don't know about you Kise, but a relationship is two sided. You can’t just decide to put things in the past on your own. So you better tell me what the hell happened six years ago.”

“ You want to know what happened?” Kiss seethed, he threw down his fork and leaned forward in his chair. “ Fine. Here’s what happened. You dumped me, Aomine Daiki. You dumped me and it broke me into a million pieces. Are you happy now?”

Aomine was dumbfounded.

Dumped?

He dumped Kise?

It was’t the other way around?

Aomine wracked his mind for any memory of saying anything other than “ I like you, Kise,” to the model back in high school. He came up with nothing. It just didn’t make any sense.

Kise sighed. “ Aomine, look…whatever happened. It’s in the past okay? I’ve put it all behind me. We were never going to work out anyways. And….I need to go. I’ll get the bill, but you should go home. Kurokocchi is sick. You should go take care of him.”

Aomine watched numbly as Kise got up from his chair.

I’ve put it all behind me?

So…Kise is saying that he’s put Aomine behind him?

No.

Aomine got up from the table and chased the blonde outside.

He spotted Kise getting in a bright yellow sports car and ran in front of it with his arms spread out.

Screw safety,this was more important.

Kise gasped and cursed. He got out of the car and threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“ Dear lord, Aomine! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“ Kise. You listen to me very carefully,” Aomine gasped, pausing to take a breath. “ What you think happened? Me dumping you? It didn’t happen. There must have been some kind of misunderstanding. I lo—-“

“ Stop! Don’t say it. Aren’t you with Momoicchi now?”

“ What?!” Aomine shrieked. “ What in the gods name would give you the idea that I like Momoi Satsuki?”

“ Wha..” Kise paused.

His eyes were starting to tear up. For a moment, Aomine thought he saw the old Kise, his Kise. But the warmth in his eyes disappeared just as quickly as it came. He gritted his teeth and flashed his golden eyes defensively.

“ Look, Aomine. I told you that it doesn’t matter anymore, alright? You have a life, I have a life. Let’s just let it go, already.”

“ But you came back!”

“ _I didn’t come back for you!_ ” A silence fell upon them as Aomine took in Kise’s words.

“ Then who did you come back for, Kise?” Aomine asked quietly.

Truthfully, Aomine already knew the answer. But he was afraid to hear it anyways. Because he knew that the next words Kise would say will tear him up just like the day that he left.

“ I came back for the one person who’s always been there in my life,” Kise said quietly, but Aomine has never heard anything as loud.

“ Kurokocchi.” Aomine stopped breathing.

“ I came back for my best friend…your best friend, Kuroko Tetsuya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dum dum dum~  
> That was me trying to be dramatic.   
> I really appreciate all the support guys :D Love you all.


	7. Landmine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi~  
> sorry for the late update. I've been so busy lately TT.TT  
> Anyways plz enjoy :D

“ He’s in there?” Akashi questioned as he cut off the purring engine of his shiny black Lamborghini.

“ Yes,” I answered. “ I will go in, Akashi kun. Could you wait here for us?”

Akashi shook his head.

“ I’ll come with you.”

“ But—“

“ Just go, Tetsuya.”

I bit back my argument and nodded, following Akashi’s bright red head into the modern bar before us.

I spotted Aomine right away. He stuck out like a sore thumb, with his blue hair and huge tanned body. His winter jacket was thrown on the ground and had several footprints on it; his hair was mussed as he leaned his head against the cool clear glass of the bar countertop. I hurried over to him, brushing past on-goers.

“ Aomine kun!” I scolded, reaching down to pick up his dirtied jacket.

Aomine rolled his head so that one cheek was resting against the glass table, and one was facing upwards. His eyes found me and he blinked, dazed.

“ Oh…it’s Tetsu! My best friend, Tetsu! Ki-Kise’s best friend…Tetsu..”

I frowned as I tried to pry him off his seat.

“ What are you saying, Aomine kun? Stop this nonsense and come home with me right now.”

“ Home?” Akashi echoed, his eyes darkening. “ You two live together?”

“ Yes,” I said quickly as Aomine stubbornly refused to move from his chair.

“ Aomine kun!”

“ When were you going to tell me this?”

“ Wha—?” I questioned.

Akashi was not helping this situation at all. I grappled with Aomine’s huge body as he flailed his arms around like a child. I may work with children, but never before have I tried to deal with one this big.

“ Akashi kun, no offence, but it’s not really any of your business is it? Aomine Dai—-“

I was interrupted by Aomine’s exploding laughter.

“ Aomine kun?”

“ Oh god,” He guffawed. “ Tetsu, you’re really something, aren’t you? You had that Kagami bastard head over heels for you back in high school, and now you have this asshole, and even….Ki…even Kise.” He hiccuped.

I sighed, as more and more people started to stare. I love Aomine. I really do, but there were times, like right now, that I would have the sudden urge to punch him in the face. And I kuroko Tetsuya, am not a violent person.

“ I don’t understand what you’re saying right now, Aomine kun. I doubt you even know what you’re saying. You’re drunk, so come home with me right now—“

“ He said he came back for you,” Aomine stated.

“ Who came back for me?”

“ Kise! Kise fucking Ryouta! He came back for you. Kise fucking Ryouta has god damned feelings for you, okay?!”

And then I was quiet. Not that I didn’t want to say anything. It was because I couldn’t. Akashi glanced towards me with an unamused expression.

“ Hmn,” He murmured, continuing to stare at me. “ That would certainly explain a whole lot.”

I opened my mouth and closed it. Opened and closed it.

Kise kun likes…. ….me?

I shook my head.

No there must have been a misunderstanding. The one Kise loves is Aomine. It was as clear as day that the blonde was head over heels in love with the former basketball ace.

“ Even if he came back for me, it doesn't mean he has feelings for me, Aomine kun. And don’t be ridiculous, this is Kise kun we’re talking about. We’ve been best friends for so many years. That is impossible.”

“ Hey, stop making a scene and just go home with your friend already!” Someone shouted from the booth next to us.

“ Maybe we should just call the police if he refuses to go.”

“ I _am_ the fucking police!” Aomine roared, throwing glares from across the room.

“ What will you do, Tetsuya?” Questioned Akashi, who was just standing there, leaning against the countertop, a fancy looking cocktail in his hand—-wait when did he order that?

“ Aomine Daiki kun, do you remember my ignite pass? Good, I will ignite pass your face if you do not get up right now.”

Aomine scoffed as he glanced at me with an arrogant expression. I narrowed my eyes. God, a drunk Aomine was such a pain. But then again, not drunk Aomine was also a pain.

“ You wouldn’t do that, Tetsu. You’re way too n——“

And then he didn’t say a word, or he couldn’t say a word, because my hand made impact with the side of his face and he was knocked out flat.

Akashi watched with unblinking eyes as I slid Aomine’s arm around my shoulders. His lips curved up to an amused smile as he watched me struggle under his weight.

“ Kuroko Tetsuya,” He murmured, slowly setting down his drink. “ As expected, you never cease to amaze me.”

 

* * *

 

 

“ Is it here?”

“ Yes.”

Akashi parked his expensive car outside the apartment Aomine and I shared. It was almost a comical sight, seeing a car like that beside a building like ours. He stepped out of the driver’s seat and crossed his arms.

“ Can you manage him?”

“ Y-yes,” I huffed as I struggled to get Aomine’s body out of the car.

“ Do not lie to me tetsuya,” Akashi ordered, scoffing at the pathetic sight of me pulling uselessly at Aomine’s arm. “ It’s obvious that someone of your size will not be able to carry someone of Aomine’s size.”

“ That is not a kind thing to say, Akashi kun,” I panted, while somehow successfully pulling my unconscious best friend our of my boss’s fancy sports car. 

Akashi sighed.

“ Give him to me.”

I glanced up at him. 

“ Akashi kun?”

“ I will help you carry him, Tetsuya.”

“ It’s alright,” I muttered, eyeing Akashi’s stature which wasn’t much taller than mine. 

Akashi noticed my doubt and smiled. 

“ Are you scrutinizing my height?” 

I gulped at the dangerous edge of his voice. 

“ Of course not.” 

“ Then give him to me.” 

“ I couldn’t trouble you anymore tonight, Akashi kun. You’ve already—“ 

“ Please do not misunderstand, Tetsuya. I am not helping out of the good will of my heart. I will be taking this out of your pay check this month.” 

“ Eh?..Right….” 

“ Now give him to me.”

I hesitated and handed Aomine over. Akashi hoisted Aomine to his feet, then in a blink of an eye, he slipped one arm under Aomine’s legs and lifted him up in a bridal carry. My face must have betrayed my surprise as Akashi smirked. 

“ Never doubt me because of my height, Tetsuya.”

 

* * *

 

 

“ Um, thank you again, Akashi kun. I really appreciate your help.”

“ You are welcome, Tetsuya. But like I said. This is not free.” 

“ Ah…right. You’ll be taking this out of my wage. How much do I make per month anyway?” 

Akashi laughed as we walked towards his car. 

“ You’ll see at the end of this month won’t you?” 

“ Well, even so, I’d still like to thank you Akashi kun,” I told him. “ You didn’t have to help me today.”

Akashi was quiet.

“ I was having a bad day anyway…this took my mind off it.”

The memory of Akashi speaking with his father appeared in my mind as I took in Akashi’s small bittersweet smile.

 

_ “ Tomorrow is mother’s death anniversary…” _

_ “ Of course father, you are a busy man after all, I understand.” _

 

“ Akashi kun,” I found myself saying. 

Maybe it were my instincts after many years of taking care of children, but I found my body moving on it’s own. And then all the sudden, I was on my tippy toes and my arms were wrapped around Akashi’s neck, my hand patting his soft red hair. 

“…Tetsuya, what are you doing?” His voice was different. Softer, somehow, but more alert. Was it just my imagination?

“ My mother used to do this for me whenever I was in a bad mood. Allow me to do the same for you.” 

“ …Even when I said I would take away your pay.” 

“ I know. But I still think that despite that, Akashi kun is still actually very kind.” 

Akashi was quiet as we just stood there, in the middle of the night, my arms around him and my fingers running through his hair. I smiled as I stepped away from him. I glanced up at him with wide eyes. 

“ That should do it. Well, did it work, Akashi kun?” 

Slowly, Akashi’s lips curved into a humorous smile; his eyes brighter than they were before. 

“ Not in the slightest,” was his answer.

I frowned. 

“ Akashi kun is mean.” 

“ Careful now, or you’ll end up sounding like Ryouta.”

“ Ah, yes. That would be bad.” Akashi motioned towards his car. “ Well, it’s late. I should go home now. I will see you tomorrow Tetsuya.” 

I bowed in farewell. 

“ Yes. I will see you tomorrow, Akashi kun.”

I stood there outside my apartment until Akashi turned around the curb and disappeared from my sight. Then, I turned around and headed back upstairs where my very drunk room mate was hopefully not throwing up on our carpet.

 

 

 

I found Aomine sprawled out on the couch in an odd fashion. 

He was fast asleep, or unconscious…. ….probably unconscious, I concluded as I regarded his one leg dangling off the couch while the other one was tucked in at an angle that I couldn't imagine could be comfortable in anyway. I sighed as I prodded him with my hand. 

“ Aomine kun,” I said. “ Wake up, you shouldn’t pass out here. It’s not good for your back…or any part of your body actually.” When he showed no sign of consciousness, I bit my lip nervously. 

Was an ignite pass too much? What if he actually got hurt? I bent down to observe his face from a closer distance when suddenly, his arm shot around my neck and pulled me down. I landed against his chest with a omph. 

“ Aomine ku—“ I spluttered as I struggled against his vice grip of a hold.

“ I missed you. Kise, I missed you…. Missed…” 

My struggling faltered as my heart fell for my best friend. 

“ Aomine kun…what happened between you and Kise kun today?” I wondered as I patted his hand.

When he finally detangled himself from me, I got up and took off his shoes before placing a blanket on top of his huge sleeping body.

“ Good night Aomine kun,” I whispered before turning off the lights. 

 

* * *

 

 

 

I could tell there was something off the moment I stepped foot into A.S. the next morning. 

My clue was the throng of female employees gathered in front of the doors, almost blocking my way.

“ Hotaru san,” I greeted with a wave. 

Hotaru was the receptionist who I became acquainted with yesterday after she accidentally bumped into me in the staff room and spilt her iced coffee all over my shirt. She was clearly on edge as she was drinking out of a water bottle that was clearly already empty.

“ Hello,” I said little bit louder when my presence was not detected. 

“ Uwahh! Oh, it’s just you, Kuroko kun. Don’t scare me like that.” 

“ You look really nervous. Is there something wrong? Speaking of which, why are there so many girls gathered over there?” 

Hotaru glanced around before pulling me aside. 

“ Kuroko kun, because I feel bad about spilling coffee on you yesterday, I will let you in on a secret.” 

“ Okay.”

“ Today, is the President’s late wife’s death anniversary,” she told me. 

I recalled from yesterday that this information was not new to me.

“ …Yes?”

She frowned.

“ So….. you’re the CEO’s personal assistant. You’re going to have one hell of a day today. I heard that last year, it was so bad that the assistant at that time had to move out of the country.” 

Now I was sure she was exaggerating. I shook my head firmly.

“ That cannot be true. Akashi kun is a kind person.”

Despite the little things, like how he tried to have casual sex with you…again, said a little devious voice in my head. 

Shut up, I told that voice.

Hotaru blanched at me like I said something outrageously ridiculous. 

“ Once I said hi to him and he totally glared at me. Have you seen his eyes? It was so terrifying,” she said with a shiver.

“ You were probably speaking in the wrong tone then.” 

“…wrong tone?”

“ Akashi kun prefers voices to be at a range of around middle C to middle A,” I recited, proud to have memorized more than half of those documents Akashi gave me the other day. 

“ Weird. He’s totally weird.” 

“ Anyways, what are those girls doing over there then?” Hotaru’s eyes followed mine and she scoffed. “ Oh them? Well….you better see for yourself, here he comes.”

“ It’s him! It’s actually him! Oh my god! Kise!”

“ I love you Kise kun!” 

Ah, I should have known. I recalled that Akashi had a meeting with Kise and his manager later on this morning. Kise was dressed casually in a black t shirt, dark denim jeans and a yellow hoodie that matched his bright yellow hair. He was currently smiling his model smile while waving to his adoring fans. His eyes eventually landed on me and his smile brightened. 

“ Kurokocchi!” he exclaimed and bounded over.

“ He knows you. Why does he know you,” Hotaru whispered. “ Do you know him?” 

“ No,” I lied.

Kise frowned as he approached us.

“ Eh? Kurokocchi, how could you say that? I’m your best friend-ssu!”

“ My best friend would never leave my other best friend drunk in a bar all by himself.”

Kise’s eyes widened with surprise, as Hotaru realized this was stepping into private matters and awkwardly backed away. 

“ Aomine? He went to a bar after? I didn’t know, I swear. How is he?” 

I sighed and glanced down.

“ Kise kun, whatever happened between you and Aomine, I do not have a right to ask, but I do wish to ask you to either get back together with Aomine kun or break things off clearly with him. And I am speaking as both your friends. Whatever this…is between you two right now is clearly bad for the both of you. Besides I’m tired of having to drag a man twice my size home from random bars in the middle of the night.” 

Kise’s eyes softened.

“ Kurokocchi…I did though. Yesterday? I told him clearly that I wanted to put things behind us.”

I was surprised. Although I suggested it, I never imagined Kise would be the one to break things off with Aomine when he was the one who used to love him so much. 

“ Wha…why?” I asked incredulously. 

Kise was spared from answering when I felt my phone go off in my pocket.

“ Tetsuya,” the voice sounded as soon as I picked up. “ Are you at the company yet?”

“ Ah, yes I am,” I answered. 

“ I want you to check my schedule for today, make sure everything that needs to be done is on there.”

“ I’ve already confirmed your schedule. Everything is on here.” 

“ Good,” Akashi answered. “ Oh, and if Ryouta shows up, show him to our second conference room.” 

“ Okay. About when will you—-“ 

But all I heard was that click of Akashi hanging up. 

“ See?” Hotaru said from her desk," I told you he’s going to be even more uptight today.”

I stared at my phone for a moment in deep thought before glancing up at Kise’s watching gaze.

“ Kise kun,” I said, “ please follow me.” 

I lead him through the modern building of A.S. until we arrived in front of the double opaque glass doors which read Conference room 2. I opened the door for him and Kise nodded in thanks.

“ Where’s your manager?” I questioned as Kise made himself at home in one of the leather seats. 

“ He’s not going to be here today. He’s out looking for a body guard after certain…incidents with anti fans.”

“ Incidents?” I echoed with a deepening frown. “ Did someone try to hurt you, Kise kun?” 

Kise laughed and shook his head. “ Eh? Of course not, Kurokocchi! Why would anyone try to hurt me? It was just an innocent prank. An innocent prank!”

I sighed. “ …You can fool many people with that fake laugh of yours, Kise kun, but you can’t fool me. Have you forgotten how long I’ve known you for?” 

Slowly Kise’s laugh died down and his eyelashes fluttered close. When he opened his eyes, there was a twinge of amusement in them. 

“ As expected of Kurokocchi,” he whispered. “ I really can’t fool you at all. Even after all this time.”

I sat down beside him and fixed a determined expression on my face. 

Today. Today I will get some answers out of him.

“ Kise kun…please tell me the truth. What was the real reason that you left? Why did you come back? What really happened between you and Aomine kun? How have you been living all these years?” I took a deep breath, “ there’s so much I want to ask.” 

Kise’s eyes softened as he sighed. 

“ Listen, Kurokocchi…it’s really complicated. All I can tell you right now, is I’m back, and I want to be in your life again.”

I shook my head. “ Don’t you see? It doesn’t work like that, Kise kun! You can’t just leave unannounced and then come back like nothing happened. Aomine kun may be able to let you back in with no questions asked, but it’s not the same for me.” 

“ Kuroko—“

“ You were supposed to be my best friend,” I interrupted. 

Ah it was too late, I realized. All my frustrations up until now was slowly leaking past the barrier of ice I’ve created around myself.

“ And you just left,” I continued, letting out a quiet disbelieving laugh. “ For six whole years. Why did you even bother coming back?”

“ ...For you.”

Kise cleared his throat when I just stared at him like some unsolvable calculus question. 

“ I came back for you, Kurokocchi. I wasn’t supposed to be gone for as long as I was, that wasn’t really my plan. But I booked more and more shoots and more and more shows and before I knew it, I was some international model with no chance of going home anytime soon. I really missed you though… I really did miss you, Kuroko Tetsuya.” 

I glanced down at my hands which were knotted in my lap. I felt my eyes moisten a bit.

“ I missed you too, Kise kun.” 

Kise offered me his best Kise smile. Not Kise Ryouta the supermodel smile, but Kise my best friend smile. 

My lips curved up in response. 

“ Kurokocchi! You smiled! You never smile at me, I’m so happy~” Kise exclaimed before launching himself on me, tangling his arms around my shoulders.

“ Kise kun, please stop,” I said as monotoned as I could manage, although even I could hear the slight bubble of happiness in my voice. There were still many things I didn't understand. Actually, I still didn't really understand anything. But I did understand one thing.  

I've missed my best friend much more than I thought I did. 

And for now, that's all that really mattered.

Kise will tell me when he feels it's right. It's always been that way---

“ Am I interrupting something?” A callous voice sounded from across the room. 

Akashi stood there with his jacket around his shoulders and his arms crossed. His face was blank and void of emotions and his heterochromatic eyes were ice cold. They stared daggers into me and I gulped involuntarily. 

Maybe Hotaru was right. 

Maybe today was truly a bad day to get on Akashi’s bad side. 

But if that were truly the case… It looks like I’ve just stepped on a land mine.


	8. Thanks to you

“ Am I interrupting something?”  
Akashi’s eyes flashed coldly as he watched us with his arms crossed over his chest.   
“ Akashi kun,” I greeted with caution. “ you’re not interrupting at all.”  
“ Akashicchi is interrupting~” Kise complained at the same time.   
I frowned and stepped on his foot.   
Kise yelped and sent a hurt look in my direction.   
“ I wouldn’t want to have to remind you to be completely professional, Tetsuya,” Akashi said in a dangerously low tone.   
I winced as I recalled the night I threw those exact same words in his face.   
“…of course Akashi kun. I apologize.”  
Kise scoffed and threw an arm around me.  
“ Don’t be stingy Akashicchi. Don’t worry Kurokocchi, let’s have lunch together later, without him interfering.”  
Akashi flashed Kise a deadly glare and I felt Kise slowly remove his arm from my shoulders.   
“ Tetsuya is very busy, Ryouta. Need I remind you that he is my personal assistant?”  
“ Yes, yes.”  
“You are not needed as of now Tetsuya,” he said. “ You may leave.”  
I nodded and hurried out the room, not really liking the heavy atmosphere.  
“ Meet with me later, Kurokocchi!” Kise sang to me. “ I’ll take you to lunch!”  
“ I told you that he’s busy,” I heard Akashi’s smooth voice say with a tinge of annoyance.   
The doors shut behind me with a clang.   
I really wasn’t busy.   
Not at all. 

 

 

The rest of the day, Akashi was not pleasant.   
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi’s voice sounded through the phone, “Your presence is needed.”  
I was about to reply but was met with the dial tone instead. I frowned and set the phone back down.   
Akashi sat behind his huge desk, his chin resting on his hand as he stared at the documents spread out before him. His eyes were downcast and void of emotion before they flickered upwards at the sound of my arrival.   
“ You called for me?” I asked.   
Akashi glanced back down at his papers before answering.   
“ Yes.”  
I fidgeted nervously as I waited for him to speak.   
“ We are going to Kyoto right now. I have a meeting with the CEO of a mall there.”  
I blinked.   
“ Kyoto?” I echoed. “ right now? But you haven’t eaten yet—-”  
“ I remember saying that I don’t like to repeat myself, Tetsuya,” Akashi said in a clipped tone.   
I winced.   
He was still in a bad mood.   
“ I apologize. Should I call the driver?”  
“ No,” Akashi replied. “ He called in sick today. I will be driving instead.”  
“ Alright, but should we stop by somewhere so you can grab some lunch? You’ve been working all day—“  
“ That is not necessary,” Akashi interrupted. “ Grab my stuff Tetsuya, we’re leaving right now.”  
I opened my mouth to argue at the sight of Akashi’s slightly paler than usual complexion but thought better of it and nodded instead.   
As we passed by Hotaru’s desk in the lobby, she noticed Akashi first before her eyes trailed to me who was behind Akashi and flashed me a thumbs up sign in good luck.   
I smiled in thanks.   
“ Don’t fall behind Tetsuya.”  
“ Yes, Akashi kun.”  
Come back alive, she mouthed with a lop sided smile. 

 

Akashi’s bright red Lamborghini stood proudly in the middle of a vacant parking spot reserved especially for the CEO. Truthfully I did not enjoy riding in that car very much. It was much too loud and much too fast. Very unnecessarily flamboyant, if you ask me.   
“ Um, if you don’t mind me asking Akashi kun, I was wondering about when will we return to Tokyo?”  
“ Probably after ten,” he replied and turned the ignition key. The engine rumbled to life with a low purr.   
I frowned.   
“ After ten?”  
“ Is there a problem?” Akashi questioned with a sideway glance in my direction. “ Don’t tell me you actually made plans with Ryouta that idiot?”  
I shook my head.   
“ It’s just….well. Isn’t today your mother’s death anniversary, Akashi kun? Aren’t you going to visit her?”  
Akashi turned his head towards me sharply and narrowed his eyes.   
I felt every single hair on my body stand up as Akashi’s eyes gleamed dangerously.   
“ Do not ask me unnecessary things, Tetsuya. It’s bothersome.”  
I swallowed with unease as I tightened my grip on my seat belt. It didn't feel right.   
“ Akashi kun. I heard your conversation with your father that night, I know that even if you pretend you don’t care, you really—-“  
Akashi slammed his foot on the brakes and the car screeched to a sudden stop. He swung around to face me with his eyes blazing in anger.  
“ Do not,” Akashi hissed menacingly, “ speak as if you know me. You don’t know me Tetsuya, and you will never know me, so I would appreciate if you could watch yourself. Now, do I need to repeat myself, or are we clear?”  
“ …We’re clear,” I said in a small voice. I bit my lip as Akashi turned his attention back to the road again. We drove in silence as I kept my eyes on the horizon before us.  
“ ...I’m sorry, Akashi kun. You’ve been so helpful and kind to me, so.... I just wanted to be helpful to you and let you breathe a little, even if it’s just a little bit,” I cleared my voice as I heard it tremble slightly. “ But I understand now, I’ve crossed the boundary. I won’t cross it again.”  
Akashi’s posture softened, but he didn’t say anything after that. 

 

 

What we weren’t expecting on the way back from Kyoto however, was the occurrence of the sudden storm…or Akashi’s car running out of gas.   
“ Akashi kun, the skies aren’t looking too pleasant,” I murmured at first when I noticed the stormy grey clouds painting the horizon.   
“ We are under the protection of my splendid car, Tetsuya. What are you afraid of.”  
“ …Ah that is true.”

“ Akashi kun, the rain is coming down really hard,” I said when the rain started to sound like hail pelting down onto the roof of Akashi’s expensive sports car.   
“ It’s fine, Tetsuya. I told you we will be fine under the roof of my car.”

 

“ Akashi kun, I think your splendid car is out of gas,” I stated as calmly as I could when Akashi’s car rolled to a stop just outside of Tokyo.   
“ Tetsuya?”  
“ ..Yes, Akashi kun?”  
“ Do shut up.”  
I did as I was told and we sat in silence for a moment, the both of us listening to the rain pouring down onto the roof before I chuckled.   
“ What?” Akashi asked.   
“ Splendid car you have,” I chortled.   
“ Must I tell you how much I paid for just this steering wheel, Tetsuya?”  
“ Never mind that,” I replied with a smile. “ My orphanage is near by actually. Want to make a run for it?”

 

 

By the time the two of us made it to the old rusted gates of Hikari Orphanage, we were both completely soaked. I fumbled with the lock before the door swung open, revealing a sleepy looking Mabuchi in her night gown.   
“ Kuroko kun?” She said, looking surprised to see me. “ What are you doing here so late? Why are you soaked? Who’s your friend?”  
“ Uh…”  
“ Hello, I’m sorry to bother you this late in the evening. I am Akashi Seijuro, Tetsuya’s…acquaintance,” Akashi replied.   
Acquaintance…he couldn’t even say friend, huh? I scoffed inwardly. Of course, what were you thinking, Kuroko Tetsuya? Just because he drove you home a couple times means you two are automatically friends?  
Mabuchi blushed bright red and she laughed nervously, waving her hand about. I don’t blame her. A chivalrous Akashi was a rare sighted Akashi, not to mention a devastatingly attractive one.   
“ No, no. Pardon my manners. Do come in,” she replied. “ Let me grab you both some towels.”  
“ Thank you,” I called after her.   
Akashi’s eyes trailed to the pictures lining the walls. They were taken each year during christmas, dating all the way back to about seven years ago. I smiled as I recalled each and every event, chuckling at the particular one in which Aomine dressed up as santa claus and Hinata asked me why Santa Claus had such dark skin if he supposedly never sees the sun. Akashi glanced down at me.   
“ What’s so funny?” He asked.   
“ Nothing,” I hummed. “ Just remembered some fond memories of mine.”  
Akashi’s fingers dusted across the edge of one photograph.   
“ Fond memories, huh…” Akashi murmured. He smiled as his fingers landed on my face from seven years ago. “ Is this you?”  
“ Ah, yes.”  
Akashi smirked.   
I frowned as I glanced up at him accusingly.   
“ What?”  
“ Nothing,” he replied. “ You look cute.”  
I blinked in surprise while trying my best to ignore the annoying fluttering of my heart.  
What was he? Bipolar?  
I opened my mouth to ask him to repeat that again but instead had the wind knocked out of me by a little red ball of energy.   
“ Kuroko sensei!” Kaoru cried, arms latching onto my waist.   
“ Kaoru kun,” I choked, “ what are you doing up so late? Why aren’t you asleep?”  
Kaoru’s happy eyes dimmed down a little and he retracted his arms from my body.   
“ It’s Hinata kun,” he replied. “ he’s got a cold, so I’m taking care of him!”  
I chuckled and ruffled his hair.  
“ You’re becoming more and more grown up everyday, aren’t you?”  
“ Of course,” Kaoru huffed proudly. “ Kuroko sensei, you know, you know? I’m practically already a man now.”  
I pinched his cheek with a smile.   
“ You sure are.”  
Kaoru finally noticed Akashi’s presence and frowned.   
“ Huh, who’s he?”  
“ Ah, Kaoru kun, say hi to Akashi kun. He’s my friend.”  
I didn’t care what sort of words Akashi wanted to use to describe us. As far as I'm concerned, Akashi is a friend.   
Kaoru grimaced and shook his head, sending his red locks which were just one shade darker than Akashi’s flying in every direction.   
“ I don't want to. I don't like him.”  
Akashi raised an eyebrow in amusement, but he didn’t look upset. I sighed.   
“Kaoru kun, that is not polite. Apologize to Akashi kun right now.”  
Kaoru jutted his chin out stubbornly in protest.   
“ Don’t lie to me, Kuroko sensei. The way he looks at you is exactly like how Mabuchi sensei looks at instant ramen when she’s hungry. I’m going to marry you when I grow taller, not that man!”  
He pointed at Akashi accusingly before bounding off with an evil grin.   
I cursed under my breath before squeezing my eyes shut.   
Children these days really…  
“ Um, please don’t mind him, Akashi kun. Kaoru kun is only eight years old after all, he seems to be a little confused. Besides, it's not like two men can get married anyways.”  
Akashi’s face was unreadable as he chuckled without amusement, crossing his arms over his soaked black shirt. I desperately tried not to wonder how exactly Akashi looks at me when I am not aware.   
“ It’s legal actually,” Akashi states evenly, “ in America.”  
“ Really?” I questioned, honestly surprised.   
“ Do you wish to go there with me, Tetsuya?”  
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at him completely flabbergasted. I probably looked extremely stupid, with my mouth hung wide open and everything.   
Akashi’s lips curved upwards.   
“ I have a couple business conferences and dinner parties to attend there—-”  
Of course.   
I mentally slapped myself for misunderstanding something like that.   
Get it together, Kuroko Tetsuya, I chanted to myself.   
“ And of course as my personal assistant, you will be required to come with me, so that wasn’t even a question actually.”  
“ Ri..right,” I murmured, still trying to recover from the shock I received earlier.   
“ Towels! Clean clothes~” Mabuchi chanted as she danced into the room, tossing us each a huge fluffy white towel.   
“ Here Akashi san,” Mabuchi said, handing over a pile of clothes. “ You look like you’re about Kuroko kun’s size.”

 

I won’t lie, it was a strange sight seeing the ever so well dressed Akashi in my ratty old t shirts and draw string pants.   
I smiled.   
It was nice though. It made him look….more normal. Like he wasn’t some important boss to tens of thousands of people, with a net worth of who knew how many millions….billions?  
He cleared his throat and I glanced away, smile still lingering on my face.   
“ It’s a tad bit too small for me, but it will do for now,” Akashi stated, adjusting his shirt.   
“ Don’t be ridiculous Akashi kun, we’re practically the same height.”  
“ I’m taller,” Akashi clarified.   
“ Not by much.”  
“ Tetsuya.”  
“ …Yes, yes. Akashi kun is taller.”   
And then, a low rumble sounded, indicating Akashi’s stomach was empty. Akashi cleared his throat again, trying to cover for himself. He peeked at me through slanted eyes, as if to check if I had heard his stomach desperately calling for food.   
I chuckled.   
“ Say, Akashi kun…are you hungry?”  
His eyes lit up for a split second before he settled with an apathetic expression, pretending not to care as usual.   
“ Well,” he huffed, “ a little food can’t possibly hurt.”

 

 

“ By food,” Akashi scrunched his nose in distaste, “ You couldn’t possibly have meant this.”  
I glanced down at the two bowls of instant ramen I placed before him. The steaming hot reddish orange soup called out to me and I licked my lips appreciatively.   
“ I meant exactly this,” I replied. “ Ah, Akashi kun isn’t used to this kind of food, right?”  
“ I’ve never tried instant food before,” Akashi muttered, stirring the soup analytically. “ This will be a first for me.”  
I snorted.   
“ I’m sorry I only have commoners food to feed you, Akashi kun,” I retorted with a slight hint of sarcasm lacing my tone.   
Akashi chose to ignore my snarky remark and sipped the soup carefully. I watched as his eyes lit up in awe before he wore his usual unimpressed facial expression.   
“ It’s alright,” he told me.   
I smiled.   
So even Akashi Seijuro could sit in a plain supermarket bought t-shirt and sip synthetic soup.  
Akashi noticed my staring and raised his eye brows.   
“ What are you staring at, Tetsuya?”  
I shook my head, a small smile playing on my lips.   
“ Nothing,” I replied. “ Akashi kun surprisingly looks quite in place eating ramen—“  
“ What the..” Akashi flinched as something shuffled under our table.   
A bright yellow head popped out from under our table and grinned brightly at Akashi.   
“ Hello,” Hinata greeted pleasantly.   
“ Hinata kun, don’t you have a cold? Why aren’t you sleeping?” I questioned, motioning him to come to my side. Hinata didn’t budge and continued to stare at Akashi.   
Akashi stared back, giving the tiny Hinata no pardoning from his cold gaze.   
“ Kaoru told me there’s a bad guy in our home. I wanted to see too!” Hinata sang, then turned to stare at Akashi again.  
“ Kuroko sensei, he doesn’t look like a bad guy.”   
He turned to Akashi who didn’t say a word.   
“ You don’t look like a bad guy.”  
“ I don’t?” Akashi mused.   
Hinata shook his head and offered a heart warming smile. Akashi’s lips lifted in response. A rare genuine smile that he hardly ever shows. He should though.   
Akashi looked a lot nicer when he smiles.   
I smiled too. I’ve seen many different sides of Akashi today, I noted with satisfaction .   
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi commented, pointing to Hinata. “ I like this one much better than that other one.”  
“ Kuroko sensei, Kuroko sensei!” Hinata ran to me, momentarily forgetting our guest. “ Guess what? Kaoru beat me in shoji today again! And then he had the nerve to make fun of me after!”  
“ That isn’t very nice of him is it?”  
Akashi lifted his head from his noodles.   
“ Shoji?” He echoed, then sat up straighter and dabbed his lips as if he were eating expensive steak at a high class restaurant. He turned to Hinata.   
“ Hinata, in case you didn’t know, I played shoji as a replacement for toys and games as a child. Since you were pleasant to me today, I can teach you a thing or two.”  
Hinata’s eyes lit up.   
“ Really?” He exclaimed, then pulled on Akashi’s hand, pointing to the stair case which lead to the second floor. “ Let’s go, Akashi sensei! I want to win against Kaoru!”  
I followed them upstairs, and watched Akashi teach a very eager looking Hinata. I smiled occasionally whenever Akashi looked pleased with his teachings.   
“ Kuroko kun?”   
I glanced up as Mabuchi poked her head into the room.   
“ Is your friend teaching Hinata kun Shoji?” She asked, amused by the scene before her.   
I nodded.   
“ He’s very good at Shoji,” I explain.   
And basketball. And horse riding. And violin. And piano. He’s basically good at everything.   
Darn him.  
“ It seems like he’s quite fond of Hinata kun.”  
I watched as Akashi pointed at a piece on the shoji board, then as Hinata nodded, looking extremely focused.   
“ Yes.” I mused.   
Mabuchi turned to me.   
“ You know, I think the weather report is saying that theres going to be a thunder storm coming soon. Why don’t you two stay here for the night?”  
I paused.   
I shifted uncomfortably at the thought of sharing a room with Akashi, since all the other rooms were mostly occupied by the children that lived here.   
Uncomfortable because my heart started stuttering like some sort of metronome that glitches.   
Thunder storm or being trapped in a room with Akashi Seijuro for an entire night.   
I think I’ll take my chances with the thunderstorm.  
“ It’s alright,” I said. “ Akashi kun is a very influential person, Im sure he will be able to find—“  
“ I agree,” I heard Akashi say.   
What?  
I turned around to find Akashi standing behind me. His eyes trained on me, watching me very carefully.  
“ I don’t mind staying here for the night. Thank you for having me, Mabuchi,” he said smoothly.   
I stared at him stupidly as my heart danced wildly in a cut time tempo.   
Don’t look as terrified as you feel, Kuroko, I told myself.   
Akashi smirked.   
“ Unless you have a problem with sharing a room with me for the night, Tetsuya?”  
Was he challenging me?  
Don’t fall for it, Kuroko.  
“…of course not,” I found myself saying.   
Darn it.  
Akashi’s smirk widened in victory.   
“ Good.”

 

The question was, how in the world was I supposed to sleep with Akashi laying next to me?   
It seems Mabuchi was right about the storm worsening though. I sighed as I listened to the nonstop pitter-pattering of the rain pounding against the roof, and the occasional howl of the wind piercing through the trees.   
“ Are you asleep…Tetsuya?” Akashi said against the darkness.   
I paused before I answered.   
“ No, not yet.”  
I heard shuffling as Akashi flipped around to face me. I stayed as I was, my back facing him because I was a complete coward.   
“ I wanted to speak with you,” I heard him say.   
“ I’m listening,” I replied.   
Akashi paused for a long minute. For a second, I thought he had fallen asleep, but then he began again.   
“ I…didn’t exactly have the happiest childhood growing up. You know of my family name…the Akashi family is one of the most prestigious families in all of Asia, and as a result, my father expected me to be just as prestigious as the name I was born into.”  
He pauses.   
“ There was a lot of pressure on me as a child. I was expected to excel in everything I tried, and of course school was no exception. My only support during that time was my mother. She was kind to me, she took care of me.”  
His voice wavered then.   
“ But then she fell ill, and not soon after, she passed away.”  
“ I’m sorry,” I murmured.   
“ It’s alright,” Akashi reassured me before he continued with a disbelieving laugh. “ My father... it was as if her death didn’t matter to him at all. On the day of her death, he couldn’t come to her death bed because he had an important business meeting in Korea. Success was everything to him, and soon after, success became everything to me. Because I finally understood that that’s what it meant to be an Akashi. And after my mother passed away, my name was the only thing I had left.”  
I was quiet.   
“ Your name can’t be the only thing you have left, Akashi kun. What about the people you care about?”  
“ There are none.”  
His reply came quickly without hesitation.   
I shook my head sadly.   
“ That’s a lonely way to live.”  
“ It’s the way I am expected to live,” He murmured.  
“ Why are you telling me all this Akashi kun?” I asked after a while, thoughts trailing to how harshly he reacted just this morning. “ Isn’t this crossing the line?”  
“ Why indeed?” He mused. “ That is a good question.”  
I frowned, he didn’t exactly answer my question but it wasn’t until later that I realized perhaps it was because he didn’t know the answer either.  
I flipped around to face him.   
“ I think you’re wrong, Akashi kun,” I said quietly. “ Success can’t be everything to you. You’re more than how much your net worth is. You’re more than what those magazine covers say about you. More than just an Akashi, you’re Akashi Seijuro. You’re you…”  
I trail off, not sure what my point was.   
Akashi’s eyes were unreadable as they locked on mine.   
He smirks.   
“ That is an interesting theory, Tetsuya."  
Akashi flips onto his back, his eyes leaving mine to fixate on the ceiling.   
“ That wasn’t my point, though. Usually, this day of every year passes by the slowest for me….but today, it was alright. Thanks to you.”  
He turned around and glances at me through his lowered eyelashes. His eyes smouldering with intensity.  
“ You were of use to me today, Tetsuya.”  
I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again.   
My eyelids drop and I took a deep breath.   
Stop, I told myself. Stop feeling like this, Kuroko Tetsuya. You know this can’t end well, so what are you doing right now? He’s Akashi Seijuro. He’s going to marry some wealthy woman who can be of use to him and his family name. You’re just going to be a name in the back of his mind. Someone he used to take an interest in. Nothing more.   
“ Akashi kun,” I spoke, surprised at how even my voice sounded. I opened my eyes, and offered him a small smile.   
“ Can we be friends? I know this is a little late to ask...after everything, but I just wanted to make sure.”  
Tell me yes, tell me yes we can be friends and just friends. Tell me we’ll never be anything more and I’ll stop right here and right now. I’ll put down these confusing feelings of mine for you for good. Tell me, Akashi kun.   
Surprise flickers across Akashi’s two toned eyes before I saw a resolve settle in them.   
“ I was lying, earlier. When I said that I didn’t want you to try and understand me, I mean.”  
My breath hitches, and I forget how to breathe.   
Suddenly a peal of thunder rumbles throughout the room and I jump. I feel Akashi’s hands close around my wrists and tug. I was yanked so that I was almost on top of him, my eyes never leaving his.   
Couldn’t leave his.   
“ I don’t think I wan’t to be your friend, Tetsuya,” he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah~ I'm sorry this chapter was kind of choppy. So many struggles.  
>  Akashi becoming fond over a child. Akashi and Kuroko sharing a bed again. So many head canons :D  
> Next chapter is a lot of fluff.


	9. It's because my eyes are always drawn to you

“ I don’t think I want to be your friend, Tetsuya.”

 

My heart stops, glitches, then restarts again at twice the original tempo.   
“ You don’t want to be my friend,” I repeat in monotone. “ Then what do you want to be, Akashi kun?”  
Akashi’s arrogant smile falters. “ That…is something I am currently trying to understand myself.”  
He reaches up with his free hand to touch the side of my face. I shiver at his touch.   
“ I’ve solved countless problems and riddles of extreme difficulty, but never before have I met one that I’ve had this much trouble in solving. You really are something, Tetsuya.”  
I roll my eyes, he really was arrogant sometimes. I untangled myself from his grasp and roll back onto my side of the futon.   
“ Then I’ll allow Akashi kun to figure it out by himself,” I say with a huff.   
Akashi chuckles, amusement lacing his tone.   
“ Are you being cute with me, Tetsuya?”  
I sniff, wrinkling my nose.   
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.  
Akashi doesn’t reply and for a moment I start to doze off, thinking that he was doing the same, but then he clears his throat. My eyes flutter open again.   
“ About today…earlier,” he mumbles hesitantly.   
Hesitantly?   
Akashi Seijuro is never hesitant.   
I open my eyes wide and stare at him through the darkness. I could make out his lean figure sprawled out beside me. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell that his eyes were on me.   
“ Akashi kun?”  
“ When I yelled at you earlier today,” he clarifies, then pauses again.  
Wait… was he trying to apologise?  
“ Yes?” I say innocently.   
“ I…never mind. It was just a fleeting thought.”  
I roll my eyes.   
“ Good night Akashi kun.”  
“ …Sleep well, Tetsuya.”

 

The first thing I am aware of when my eyelids flutter open the next morning is Akashi’s face not a couple inches away from mine. His long lashes dusting the top of his cheeks, and his bright red hair shimmering under the stream of sunlight pouring through the window.   
My breath hitches as a wave of deja vu washes over me, sending me back to that morning when I first woke up next to Akashi Seijuro; that morning when Akashi was nothing but a stranger I had accidentally slept with.   
I feel my heart beat quicken at the memory and I curse myself silently.   
Last night, I tried to put my feelings for Akashi behind me once and for all. Whatever these feelings were. But he interfered with my doing so.   
So….is it okay? I wonder, fingers silently reaching up to brush away the lock of brilliant red hair which was falling onto his closed eyelids.   
Is it okay for me to like you?  
My hands stop before his face, and I sigh.   
There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t feel this way, why Akashi Seijuro will never be the right one for me, and why I can never be the right one for him.   
But then again, when choosing to follow my brain or my heart, my brain hardly ever wins. 

I imagine what Akashi’s reaction would be if he ever found out about my feelings. He would probably ice me out and then tell me to get rid of such useless emotions before he gets rid of me. 

“ I have no one I care about…it’s the way I am expected to live…”

His words from last night replay in my head and I sigh.  
Then you’ll have to keep your feelings a secret, I think.   
Akashi’s eyes fluttered open and I freeze, my hands inches away from his face.   
I was caught red handed.   
I watch as understanding floods into Akashi’s eyes and his lips slowly lift to an amused smirk.   
“ If you wished to touch me, Tetsuya, all you had to do was ask,” he purrs, and in one fluid movement he had me caged between his arms, his face right above mine, and his red hair falling into my eyes.   
“ Well?” He muses when I blink repeatedly, not a single word managing to escape my lips.   
“…professional…I thought we agreed to be professional,” I managed to gasp.   
Akashi lifts an eyebrow and leans in closer.   
“ I’m sorry, Tetsuya, but us being professional was ruined from the moment I realised you confuse me. A puzzle I cannot solve. And do you know what happens when I encounter a puzzle I cannot solve?”  
I try to shake my head, but Akashi’s face being only a centimetre away from mine made it impossible to do so.   
“ …No,” I say instead.   
“ I don’t either,” Akashi bluntly replies. “ I’ve never encountered a problem I cannot solve. Therefore you must be prepared for anything, Tetsuya. Since even I do not know what I will do next.”  
I stare at him.   
Akashi’s eyes glimmer mischievously. I try to push him off, but his grip tightens.   
“ I might call out to you.”  
His fingers gently graze my jaw bone.   
“ I might touch you.”  
They travel down my neck and linger on my collar bone.   
“ I might embrace you.”  
His fingers travel lower, reaching the first button of my sleeping blouse.   
“ I might kiss you…”  
“…because you want to,” I ask, although it wasn’t really a question. Akashi Seijuro does whatever he wants to do, it's something I've learned over the period of time I've spent with him.  
His eyes sparkle.   
“ Exactly.”  
“ And when you finally understand what I mean to you?”  
Akashi smirks, releasing me from his hold.  
“ When that time comes, you’ll be of no use to me any longer. When you solve an equation, that’s the end of it, no?”  
I ignore the stab of pain that pierces through me like a dagger through the chest.   
“ Then… when that time comes, I’ll be sure to disappear from Akashi kun’s life.”  
Akashi lifts his head, eyes snapping towards me in surprise, as if my words made no sense to him.  
“ …Disappear?” Akashi echoes, lifting an eyebrow.   
“ Yes, I’ll make sure not to step foot into your world…when that time comes,” I say quietly.   
Slowly, Akashi’s eyes clear and he nods.   
“ Yes…when that time comes,” he repeats.   
I clear my throat, not liking the heavy atmosphere we’ve created around ourselves.   
“ Today’s Saturday,” I say. “ It seems like the weather’s looking much nicer. Should I call for a driver to take you home?”  
Akashi shakes his head.   
“ No, never mind that. You spend every single day these days living in my world. Today, I wan’t to try living in yours.”

 

 

Akashi Seijuro was not very good at living in my world.   
At first, at least.   
“ Tetsuya,” He snaps for the fifth time that day. “ Can’t you do something about these ones?”  
He points to the throng of little girls who were crowded around him in annoyance. The girls however, were more excited than ever.   
“ Handsome onni chan, why are your eyes two different colors?” One of them asks, eyes wide in curiosity.   
“ Handsome onni chan, can I touch your hair? It’s so pretty,” another coos.  
I chuckle, and turn my back on him.   
“ Tetsuya?” Akashi says through clenched teeth.   
“ Sorry, but no can do, handsome onni chan,” I tease before walking off with a huge basket of laundry.   
Akashi’s eyes flash violently. “ This is a punishable act, Tetsuya.”  
I shake my head.   
“ But Akashi kun gave me the day off, which means that just for today, I am not your personal assistant, and you are not my boss. You cannot punish me.”  
Akashi’s eyes narrow but I know that he isn’t actually upset.   
“ Tetsuya. Are you being smart with me?”  
“ I wouldn’t dare.”  
“ Akashi sensei!” I hear Hinata’s voice sound from behind me, “ I’ll come save you!”  
“ Hinata,” I hear Akashi say. “ You are much more useful than that one over there.”  
By ‘that one’ he probably means me. 

 

It takes a little over a while after all my chores are done before I realise that Akashi’s red head was no where to be found.   
“ Akashi kun?” I call.   
No response.   
Did he leave? I wonder with a frown.   
“ Kuroko kun,” I hear a voice say behind me. I turn around to find Mabuchi standing behind me.  
“ Hello Mabuchi san,” I greet. “ Have you seen Akashi kun?”  
Her eyes twinkle.   
“ Why yes, indeed I have,” she says in a singsong voice.   
“ Follow me,” she says before I get a chance to question her further.   
Mabuchi leads me through the building to our sad little back yard, where one lonely, beaten up basket ball hoop stands.   
Beneath it stood the red head I was looking for, surrounded by…children?  
“ There he is,” Mabuchi sighs. She turns to me with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “ Where did you find someone like him anyways, Kuroko kun? He embodies the perfect man of every woman’s dreams.”  
I decide not to tell her that he was the person who wanted to buy Hikari Orphanage and build a factory in it’s place. I continue to stare at the sight of Akashi Seijuro teaching little children how to shoot a basketball in wonder.   
“ We…bumped into each other at a club.”   
Quite literally.   
Mabuchi sighs. “ Is he taken? I bet someone like him would have girls lining up after him for miles and miles to come.”  
I shift uncomfortably, thinking of the type of person Akashi Seijuro is. I shake my head.   
“ No…Akashi kun is quite…unavailable,” I say.   
What I mean by that, I’m not even so sure of myself. Did I say that on his account, or did I say that on mine?   
I shake my head a little.   
You’ve become a selfish person, Kuroko, I think with a sigh. 

Akashi notices me by the window and scowls, his perfect eyebrows wrinkling as he motions with one finger for me to go to him.   
‘Tetsuya, come here’ I could imagine him say in that sweet alluring voice of his.   
“ Tetsuya,” he says in an irked voice as I approach him, “ what is this sad excuse of a basketball court?”  
He motions to the single basketball hoop in distaste.   
“ Ah…” I trail off. “ Yes, I was thinking of getting another hoop installed.”  
“ You don’t need another hoop installed. You need a whole other basketball court installed.”  
“ Really? You think so?”  
“ But Kuroko sensei always plays basketball with us using that basketball hoop,” Hinata says.   
Akashi scowls in my direction again. “ You’re making the children play under such conditions; you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Tetsuya.”   
“ Well, we’re not all billionaires who own an entire company are we?”   
“ That is true,” Akashi says with a small satisfying smile.   
I roll my eyes at the smug tone of his voice.   
“ Well then, Akashi kun. I will not trouble you by making you play on such a ‘sad excuse of a basketball court.’” I say, mocking his earlier words.   
Akashi’s multicoloured eyes widen at the recognition of sarcasm in my voice before a mischievous glint flashes in them. He waves me off, with a short gesture of his wrists.   
“ Never mind that,” he tells me. “ I will play basketball with your children.In fact, why don’t you play with us, Tetsuya.”  
Hinata and a couple other children brighten at that idea.   
“ Play with us, Kuroko sensei!” They echo.   
“ Tetsuya?” Akashi murmurs seductively.   
One game couldn’t hurt.   
“ Alright,” I say. 

 

 

 

The game ended quickly since there was only one basketball hoop and things got confusing because of that. But of course the fact that Akashi was one of the most deadly players I have ever met probably also had something to do with it. His little team won 43-3.   
Okay, maybe it was mostly because of that.   
Akashi stares at me with an amazed stare as we sat side by side on the porch outside the building. The kids were inside, all rushing in to eat after having exercised. I meet his stare with a questioning blank gaze.   
“ What is it Akashi kun?”  
“ Absolutely fascinating,” Akashi murmurs, “ I have never met a basketball lover who plays said sport as terrible as you. Tell me, Tetsuya. How in the world did you make it on the team in high school?”  
I frown. “ I’m not used to playing offense much,” I explain. “ I’m more of a supporting player.”  
“ Besides,” I say, allowing a proud smile to work it’s way to my face. “ I was a regular.”  
“ Really?” Akashi says in a bored tone.   
I’m not really the type of person who has a huge pride, nor am I not the type of person who wishes to prove himself all the time. However…  
I set my jaw stubbornly.   
I definitely have a confusing desire to prove myself to Akashi Seijuro.   
“ Let’s play again,” I say, standing up.   
Akashi shakes his head. “ Tetsuya, can’t you see that I am tired? I spent all day around those children of yours, and dear god are they noisy,” he complains in an annoyed voice, although his lips twitch, as if he was biting back a smile.   
My insides warm at the idea of Akashi growing fond of the children at the orphanage. It was a nice image. Akashi Seijuro playing with the kids, I mean.   
I sigh and pretend to give up.   
“ Ah, I get it Akashi kun,” I say, “ you’ve never lost to anyone in anything before, which is why you don’t want to lose to me. It’s okay I understand.”  
Akashi raises an eyebrow, and amusement glitters in his eyes.   
“ Are you trying to lure me out with those half hearted words of yours, Tetsuya?”  
I shrug, dribbling the ball between my hands.   
“ Fine,” he purrs, and stands up in one fluid motion. Suddenly he leans in towards me, his face an inch away from mine, and I freeze at the sudden proximity of his face to mine. “ But don’t expect me to let you off easy.”  
For some reason, I didn’t think he was talking about basketball. I gulp, and stumble backwards a bit only to have him steal the ball from me.   
I curse as Akashi drives the ball through the close distance and shoots. The ball flies effortlessly through the net with a swoosh.   
I frown.   
“ That’s no fair,” I say. “ You distracted me.”  
Akashi raises one arched brow teasingly. “ Oh?” He muses. “ Do I distract you, Tetsuya?”  
Yes, very much, I wanted to say. Instead, I allow a playful smile to settle on my lips and I take a step closer to him, our bodies pressing up against each other.   
“ You distract me, Akashi kun,” I breathe against his chest. My eyes flutter up to gaze at him with wide earnest eyes. “ Do I distract you?”  
I watch as his eyes blank for a quick second, his lashes fluttering in surprise at the sudden change in my attitude. But that split second is enough for me to steal the ball from him.   
Two can play at this game, I think with to myself with glee.   
I dribble the ball one step, two steps, three, before Akashi catches up to me again. I try to use misdirection like I always do, but somehow it is no use against Akashi’s watchful eyes.   
In no time, I lose the ball again.   
“ I win, Tetsuya,” I hear Akashi say in a tone I don’t recognise. His face is unreadable when I lift my head to meet his calculating eyes. They search mine in a desperate effort to find some answer to some question I did not know.   
“ You win, Akashi kun,” I agree with a small laugh of defeat. 

 

The sun drops against the horizon, the sky a brilliant dusty orange. I glance out the window of Akashi’s other sports car, ( he apparently has three in total) my fingers brushing against the cool glass as I watched the buildings wiz by.   
“ Akashi kun is amazing after all,” I say with a small chuckle after a whole car ride in absolute silence.   
I see Akashi turn towards me from the corner of my eye.   
“ Yes I am,” he agrees. “ But why do you say so, Tetsuya?”  
I tap the window, a small smile playing on my lips.   
“ I just think it’s amazing for someone like you, who has lived in your world for so long to be able to grow accustomed to mine so quickly. I think that’s quite amazing.”  
Akashi is quiet and I can tell he is thinking. What he was thinking about, I have no idea, but he turns away from me and smirks.   
“ I think it’s amazing that you’re still finding my brilliance to be surprising Tetsuya.”  
I snort.   
“ I take it back,” I say in a monotone voice. “ Akashi kun is much too arrogant for his own good.”  
He chuckles under his breath, and smiles.   
“ I won against you in basketball,” he reminds me. “ I always win.”  
I ignore his jabs of superiority and frown.   
“ Ah,” I sigh. “ My misdirection usually always works. I wonder why it didn’t this time?”  
“…you.”  
Akashi murmurs something incoherent under his breath. I don't catch what he says and I blink.   
“ Pardon me?” I ask.   
Akashi’s eyes flicker for a moment, that same unreadable expression crossing his eyes as he shook his head.   
“ Never mind,” he says.   
I fall quiet as well and we enjoy the ride back in a comfortable silence.   
It isn’t until later that night that I realise what it was that he had said,

 

“ It’s because my eyes are always drawn to you.”


	10. The reason why

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone~Aoki chapter today :)

_“ Stay away from our son.”_

_“ He was fine…he was normal until he met you.”_

_“ You made him like this, it’s all your fault!”_

I can’t. I love him.

So much.

_“ You say you love him, so leave him alone. Let him have a normal life.”_

Let him have a normal life.

A normal life…

If you love him. Leave him.

Or else.

Kise’s eyes snap open and he bolts upright, gasping in shock. His clothes were soaking wet and his bangs stuck to his forehead. He grapples for his phone, sinking back into his sheets when he confirms that it was only six o’ clock in the morning. Kise lets out a laugh of disbelief; the sound echoes in his spacious all white bedroom.

That dream again? It’s been years since the last time that scene from all those years ago haunted his dreams. _Why again?_ He wonders as he ruffles his blonde hair in frustration. _Why now?_

Kise’s thumb scrolls through all his contacts wildly, faster and faster. He stops as a name catches his eye. It was the only name that had a heart typed out next to it.

Kurokocchi <3

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Realisation settles in the pits of his stomach as he flops back onto his bed with a frustrated sigh. It was obviously because of that dreaded dinner all those weeks ago. That dreaded dinner when Kuroko left with Akashi and he was left to enjoy his steak with his ex boyfriend all alone.

His ex boyfriend.

It was weird to think about. How Aomine went from being a stranger, to his rival, to his best friend, to his lover, then back to a complete stranger again. That dream was his reminder. A reminder of why he left, and why he and Aomine would never work out.

Ever.

“ Don’t you dare forget what happened that day, Kise,” Kise murmurs to himself. “ Don’t you dare forget the reason why you left.”

And with that, Kise groans and rolls off his bed, padding to his shower. The icy water helped clear his mind.

 _Stop thinking about him,_ Kise thinks to himself with a disapproving frown. _You’re not allowed to think about him. Think about something else. Think about Kurokocchi. Think about your beloved Kurokocchi._

Kise smiles as he wonders what the blunnette was doing today. He was probably waking up just about now, rubbing the sleep from his eyes; trying to tame that piece of blue hair that stuck up in the morning no matter what he puts in it the night before. Kise’s smile widens. He’s probably going to make breakfast after his shower; maybe pancakes. Vanilla pancakes, Kise decides, nodding to himself like a complete idiot. He would make two plates of warm steaming vanilla pancakes, one for himself and one for Aom——

No.

Kise groans and let’s his face fall into his hands as somehow Aomine even manages to appear in his pathetic little fantasy of Kuroko doing his morning routine. Kise has to admit, though. Bumping into Aomine and Kuroko that other day came as a complete shock. He never dreamed in a million years that Kuroko and Akashi would be acquaintances of all people. They were so comically different.

Kuroko is like a supermarket bought T shirt. Something not purchased with a lot of money, but something you find yourself wearing again and again each and every day. He was that piece of clothing in your wardrobe that completely doesn’t stand out, that plain white t shirt that you would have to dig through all your other clothes for.

Akashi on the other hand is akin to a shirt weaved of the finest material, fabricated by the hands of the best designers in the world. He is like that one of a kind outfit you spent a complete fortune on, that outfit that you maybe wear once a year, maybe even less.

Aomine….what kind of shirt would Aomine be?

Kise shakes his head again, rolling his eyes at himself for thinking of such stupid things.

He’s only reacting so strongly from seeing Aomine because of how long it’s been, he tells himself. He just wasn’t ready. Truthfully, a huge part of the reason why he came back was just to see.

He just wanted to see if Aomine was living well. Living a ….normal life. Besides, it wasn’t a lie that he missed a certain wide eyed blue haired shortie. And now, he won’t have an excuse to see the tanned basketball ace anymore, since they lived in completely different worlds. The only time they might see each other next is maybe through Kuroko. And even that was highly unlikely.

_Congratulations, Kise. You won’t have to worry about him anymore. He’s living well, as you hoped._

_Now you can let go,_ an annoying voice inside his head whispers.

 _Shut up,_ Kise tells it with a scowl. He’s put a whole whooping six years worth of time and millions and millions of miles between himself and Aomine. Letting go will be a piece of cake.

 _I’ve already let go; I let him go the moment I decided to leave,_ Kise thinks. With that reassuring thought in mind, he grabs his phone and his keys and throws open the door, ready to head over to A.S. for his fittings. He pauses as something by the door catches his eye and he bends down to pick it up. It was a card board box decorated with hearts.

For Kise kun <3 <3<3 It says on the top.

Kise smiles as he brings it into his loft, it was probably from a fan. However, Kise only yelps and drops the box when he opens it. Stuffed into the box was the carcass of a dead rat, and a picture of Kise with the words ‘ Fag, and Liar’ Scrawled over it with bright red sharpie. Kise recognises that picture as it was from a photoshoot he had done a couple months ago for a Woman’s magazine. He lets out the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. There really was no way to stop the rumours and the hatred towards a celebrity once it starts. Word must have gotten out about Kise’s preferences, and homosexuality was not a welcomed aspect here in Japan. This was already the third time something like this has happened, although the first two times were seemingly harmless. Just threats during his meet ups, and occasional angry fan letters.

Kise sighs. He won’t deny how much it hurt to be targeted and hated for things he had no control over. And how much it hurt to know that some fans turn into anti fans upon reading the gossip written on all those magazines and websites.

“It doesn’t change who I am!”, Kise wants to shout at all the paparazzi, all the cameras pointed at him. It doesn't change the fact that he’s one hell of a model. He feels his phone buzz by his hand. It’s a text from his manager.

_Kise, I found a pretty fitting guy to be your bodyguard. He seems pretty legit to me. Said he was from the police force or something. Anyways, come straight home after your activities today. I’ll bring him to your house and you can decide if you want him then._

-received 7:20 am

Kise glances at the box by his feet in disgust.

 _Good timing_ , he types. _Just got attacked again today. It scared me-ssu~ TT.TT Ehh?? You found a body guard already? Good job! \\(^-^)/ I don’t really care who it is, if he looks good to you, then He’ll be good with me too. You can sign the contracts and stuff with him right away. The sooner he can start, the better._

Send.

It isn’t until later that Kise realises the huge impacting mistake he made by sending that text message then and there.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The first thing Kise notices the moment he steps foot into A.S. is Kuroko’s bright blue head perched beside the long oval front desk delightfully chatting with the receptionist. Kuroko was wearing blue denim jeans, paired with a white t shirt and a lighter blue dress shirt that was clearly a size too big for him. He had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and as expected, that lock of blue hair at the crown of his head still refuses to be tamed.

Kise removes his shades and smiles a huge smile as he heads for his friend. The receptionist lady notices him before Kuroko does and nudges him.

“ Your pretty model friend is here,” Kise hears her say.

Kuroko turns around, his huge cerulean blue eyes lands on Kise.

“ Hello, Kise kun.”

Almost at once, Kise feels completely at ease.

Kuroko has always had that effect on him. It really is bloody brilliant. Kise didn’t really understand what it is. Maybe it’s the way Kuroko looks at him; his gaze always so honest, so perceptive that Kise is sure he would never have to pretend around the petite blunnette. Maybe it’s the way Kuroko speaks; voice so soft and sweet, although his words blunt and straightforward in a very un cute way.

“ Kurokocchi!”

Kuroko checks his phone. “ Ah, just on time. Come with me, Kise kun. You have your fitting for the photoshoot today, right?”

Kise nods, and follows Kuroko.

“ But Kise kun,” Kuroko says after a moment of silence. “ Did something bad happen over the weekend? You look kind of …upset.”

Kise looks down at Kuroko, surprised. He still couldn’t get used to how perceptive Kuroko is, even after all these years.

“ It’s…a long story,” Kise says with a sigh. “ There have been rumours going around about me liking men, and people aren’t too happy about that idea.”

“ What do you mean?”

“ Well, I received roadkill as a present this morning.”

Kuroko’s eyes widen until he somewhat resembles those squeezable toys that have pop-out eyeballs. His eyebrows furrow with worry as he stops walking and tugs on Kise’s sleeve.

“ Are you alright, Kise kun?” He asks, voice a little hesitant. “ Are you being safe?”

Kise grins and throws his arm around Kuroko’s shoulder.

" is Kurokocchi worrying about me? That’s so cute! Ne, ne, Kurokocchi. Say that again?”

Kuroko protests and flails uselessly against Kise’s chest, then stops, knowing it’s useless to fight against Kise Ryouta’s hugs.

“ I refuse. Kise kun is an idiot.”

“ Ehh? Kurokocchi is always calling me an idiot. It’s hurtful!”

“ Right,” Kuroko murmurs. “ But Kise kun…”

Kise pauses at the sudden shift of tone in Kuroko’s soft voice.

“ Kise kun, you don’t talk about yourself much anymore. You used to tell me everything, it’s quite upsetting.”

Kise unwinds his arms from Kuroko’s neck and stands up straight, glancing away from the petite boy in front of him. Kuroko sighs and checks his phone again.

“ Never mind that, we’re going to be late. Come on, I know you’ll talk eventually once I get you drunk enough.”

A small bubble of laughter escapes Kise’s lips.

“ You’ve become sneakier Kurokocchi. I like it.”

“ I’m now Akashi Seijuro’s assistant,” Kuroko says with a tired sigh, “ I’ve got to have picked up a thing or two, no?”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time his fitting is finished, Kise is dead tired, both physically and mentally. He’s tired of people poking and prodding at his body, sticking pins and needles everywhere. He’s tired of the bright flashing lights and the camera lens that is constantly pointed at him. He’s tired of all the whispers behind his back; of all the hushed discussions he over hears about how he might be disappointing fans everywhere.

But most of all, he’s tired of the constant flashes of memories from six years ago. He’s tired of thinking about him. How his face face crumpled in shock and hurt after Kise told him that he’s moved on, and so should he.

“ Dammit,” Kise murmurs as he shrugs his jacket off, reaching into the pockets for his keys. Before he could open the door, however, it opens by itself and his manager stars before him with a proud smile on his face.

“ Kise, how were the fittings?”

“ It was fine,” Kise replies. “ But what are you doing here?”

His manager rolls his eyes. “ Didn’t I tell you earlier today, Kise? I’m here to introduce you to your new bodyguard.”

“ New body guard?”

His eyes are drawn to the tall, devastatingly familiar figure sprawled out on his long white couch; his tanned skin, and that shock of deep Prussian blue hair. The man turns and notices Kise too, his lips curving up into smirk radiating confidence. A complete contrast to his crest fallen face from all those weeks ago.

“ Hey,” Aomine says. “ You’re back.”

Kise clenches his fists and swallows hard. And suddenly the unwanted memories he thought he had long discarded years ago comes rushing back.


	11. Better Late than Never

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! double update this week. It's cuz your all wonderful <3

_The first memory that floods back to Kise is the day he first told Aomine that he loved him. He remembers that it was the day before his birthday, and Aomine, being Aomine was trying to figure out what it was that Kise had wanted for his seventeenth birthday. Kise remembers it was the last period of the day that they both decided to skip. They had snuck onto the school roof, it was quite windy that day. Aomine sat against the door while Kise had his head rested on Aomine’s lap. He occasionally reaches down and runs his hands through Kise’s silky blonde hair, twirling the yellow locks between his fingers._

_“ Oi, Kise,” Aomine snaps gruffly. “ Could you please stop being an ass and just tell me what it is you want for your birthday? All this thinking is making my head hurt.”_

_“ Ehh? Aominecchi, I told you that I don’t wan’t anything last week didn’t I?” Kise says and reaches up to pat Aomine’s blue head. “ Stop thinking about it. You’ll break something if you think so much, knowing you.”_

_Kise laughs as he feels a hand smack his head harshly._

_“ Shut it, you little shit head. I’m doing this for you.”_

_“ That’s why I said I don’t want anything. Really, Aominecchi, what’s up with all this talk about birthday gifts and whatnot? You never cared about my birthday before.”_

_Aomine pauses and Kise shifts his head, trying to glance up at the blue haired basketball ace._

_“ …Aominecchi?”_

_“ Isn’t it obvious?” He hears Aomine sigh. “ It’s because we’re dating now, aren’t we? I want to make you somewhat happy on your birthday.”_

_Well that was unexpected. Kise feels his cheeks heat up in response. He grins and sits up to face Aomine._

_“ Aominecchi, tell me the truth. Have you been secretly reading shoujo manga behind my back?You’re so cheesy these days, cheesy~”_

_Kise laughs, his eyes tearing up as Aomine’s ears turn bright red.He narrows his eyes at the blonde before him with a sharp intake of breath._

_“ Fuck you, asshole. I was being sincere.”_

_“ Then you’re sincerely cheesy?”_

_“ That’s it. You’re asking for it,” Aomine murmurs in a low voice before grabbing Kise’s wrists playfully._

_They struggle together for a moment before Kise loses his balance and falls to the ground, pulling Aomine along with him. For a moment they just stare at each other. Kise’s pretty amber orbs fixed on Aomine’s face as he smirks down at him, eyes sparkling with mischief. The words come out before Kise can stop them. The words that have been on Kise’s mind for days and days._

_Not that he wanted to stop them._

 

 

_“ I love you.”_

 

_For a long moment it’s as if Aomine hadn’t heard him at all. But then he slowly blinks and his smirk dies away until he’s left just staring at Kise stupidly like the idiot he is._

_“ …What?”_

_“ I love you,” Kise breathes, his eyes fluttering to meet Aomine’s confused ones. “ Aominecchi.”_

_Kise’s heart falls to the pits of his stomach when he feels Aomine pull away. The absence of Aomine’s hands on his wrists have never felt so obscure. So painfully bare._

_Shit! Kise curses to himself. What was he thinking? Blurting out the three words that is bound to scare someone like Aomine off? What if he doesn’t feel the same way? Well it’s obvious now that he doesn’t, Kise thinks with tears in his eyes as Aomine scratches his neck nervously._

_I take it back! Kise wanted to shout. I take it all back._

_“ I meant I love Aominecchi’s hair. It’s my favourite colour,” Kise lies smoothly and touches the blunnette's hair affectionately with an awkward laugh._

_It was obvious Aomine could see through the lie right away. Even for someone like Aomine, stupidity only goes to a certain degree. But his shoulder’s relax anyway. “Isn’t your favourite colour yellow?”_

_“ It is. I like yellow and blue. I like both!”_

_“ Oi, that’s being greedy. Don’t you know what favourite means, Kise? It means you only get to pick one. Ha! I bet I did better than you on that language test the other day. Don’t lie to me, what did you get?” Aomine plays along and leans into Kise, the mood lightening up again._

_Kise frowns._

_“ You’re so mean, Aominecchi.”_

_Ah well, he thinks. Maybe it was much too soon._

 

* * *

 

 

“ You…” Kise hisses, pointing an accusing finger in Aomine’s direction. He turns to his manager in search for answers. “ Kasamatsu senpai, what in the world is he doing here?”

Kasamatsu blinks in confusion and looks between the blonde and the blunnette slowly.

“ …He’s your new bodyguard? Ah, you must be surprised. Aomine here told me that you two were close friends in high school. He told me not to tell you because he wanted it to be a surprise.”

A surprise indeed.

Not a pleasant one though.

Kise turns back to Aomine, face paling in slow horror.

“ No…”

Aomine’s smirk deepens. He raises a hand in hello. “ Thanks for the job, Kise. Really liking your apartment, by the way. You’ve always had good taste.”

 

You’ve always had good taste.

 

* * *

 

 

_“ Thanks for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Aomine,” Kise murmurs nervously as he enters Aomine’s parent’s apartment hesitantly. The invitation to come over was sudden and was to be kept a secret from Aomine. Kise had a gut feeling it couldn’t be anything good, but he came anyway. He tries for a friendly approach when Aomine’s parents don’t say a word and waves him inside._

_“ Um, I like how you’ve decorated the apartment. You two have good taste.”_

_“ Shut it,” Aomine’s father snaps._

_Kise feels his blood drain from his face as he swallows nervously. Aomine’s mother sighs and places a careful hand on her husband’s arm._

_“ Take it easy dear. Kise kun…is it? Sit.”_

_Kise does as he’s told. Aomine’s father glares at him as he speaks._

_“ Let me be frank with you. Leave our son alone.”_

_Kise forgets how to breathe for a moment as he lets out a shaky laugh. He runs a hand through his hair nervously, tugging at the little strand of hair that always tickles the nape of his neck._

_“ Um, I’m so-sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Kise says carefully. “ Aominecchi and I are close friends. Do you…do you have a problem with me? Hav..have I done something--”_

_Kise flinches as Aomine’s father let’s out a crazed laugh that resembles Aomine’s so much, that it’s a strange sight to see._

_“ Close friends. You hear that? He said they're close friends.”_

_“ Um—-“_

_“ What do you take us for? Idiots? Do you two think we’re blind?”_

_“ We know about your relationship with Daiki,” Aomine’s mother whispers._

_Kise wanted to scream._

_How? When? Why? A million questions ran through his mind at that exact moment, with Aomine’s parents glaring at him as if he were the most disgusting parasite they’ve ever lain their eyes upon._

_“ We wan’t you to leave him alone,” Aomine’s mother repeats slowly, as if Kise hadn’t heard the first time. As if the first time hadn’t hurt enough._

_Kise closes his eyes and takes a deep breath._

_“ Please…listen to me—“_

_“ He was fine! He was perfectly normal until you came along!” Aomine’s father snarled, slamming his fist onto the glass coffee table between them. “ Go play your little gay games with someone else! Just leave my son alone!”_

_Kise flinches as the glass shook, threatening to crumble._

_“ Honey, please—“_

_“ I can’t,” Kise blurts._

_“ You can’t?” The question came out in a rushed gasp of disbelief, of anger. “ Why in the hell not?”_

_Oh no._

_Don’t tell them Kise, you can’t tell them. It’s only going to make things worse. Don’t you dare—-_

_“ Because I love him.”_

 

* * *

 

 

“ Good taste?” Kise echoes with a laugh. “ Obviously not, since I dated you at one point in my life. Kasamatsu senpai, help me get rid of that bastard.”

“ Uh…I can’t. We already signed the contracts remember? What’s your problem now?”

“ Yeah, Kise. I already signed the papers. Even kissed them for good measures,” Aomine drawls with a lazy grin.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kise’s vision blurs as he smiles through his god damned annoying tears. A small rueful, yet honest smile.

“ I love him,” he repeats.

For a moment both his parents are stunned. Aomine’s father, red in the face from fury lets out a huff of disbelief.

“ Unbelievable,” he breathes with a shake of his head.

Aomine’s mother’s eyes are sad as she regards Kise with a sigh.

“ If you love our son, then you should understand that he can’t have a normal life with you. He can’t get married, he can’t have kids. He’ll always have people pointing and whispering behind his back…do you,” she hesitates, then her voice softens. “ You don’t want that for him, do you?”

A painful swallow.

“ No.”

“ Does he love you too?” Kise swallows painfully again, as he recalls Aomine’s nervous reaction that morning. His next words are like a dagger stabbing into his own chest. “…no.”

The obvious relief on both their faces does not make anything better.

“ Then it’s just up to you. Leave him immediately,” Aomine’s father says harshly.

For a moment, Kise considers giving up. He considers what they were saying…and they were right. Every single word they had said were true. Aomine wouldn’t be able to have a normal relationship with him. Aomine wouldn't be able to have a normal life with him. They were right. They were right, he should leave him—-

…No.

It was true that they were right, but as right as they were, who were they, who was he to decide what kind of life Aomine wants to live? No one could decide how Aomine wanted to live other than that idiot himself. Kise closes his eyes and stands up. He bows respectfully and his eyes flutter open, feeling much more confident than before.

“ I’m sorry, but I can’t after all. I respect that you two are worried for your son, but I think a matter like this is something he should decide for himself, whether he loves me or not. If you’ll excuse me…”

Kise turns around and heads straight for the door, ignoring the flabbergasted stares he was receiving from Aomine’s parents. Kise wouldn’t lie. At that moment he felt pretty damn awesome.

“ Then I’ll disown him.”

...And that awesome feeling was gone.

Kise turns around slowly, not sure if he had heard right.

“ Wh..what?”

Disown? Did he say disown? No, no, no. He couldn’t possibly have said disown. Disowning is such a big deal, he wouldn’t—-

“ I said, I’ll disown him,” came the gruff reply. “ If you don’t leave him that is. I don’t want a gay man for a son.”

“ You’re…you’re bluffing—“

“ Try me. There's nothing I hate more than your type of people.”

Kise doesn’t say anything. He can’t say anything, because staring into Aomine’s father’s hateful eyes at that moment…Kise believed him.

He would do it. He would seriously do it.

“ The choice is up to you. You can keep Daiki, if you don’t mind being the one responsible for him losing his family that is.”

Kise wants to laugh.

Choice? What choice? There was no choice…not now. Not after hearing that. None at all.

“ Do you understand now?”

Kise feels numb as he nods. Did he nod? he wasn’t sure.

“ If you understand, then get your little gay ass out of my house.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“ Listen,” Kise says through gritted teeth. “ Even if you’ve signed the contract or whatever, I can still fire you, you realise that right?”

Kise yelps as he feels a hard slap across his head. He turns to Kasamatsu who’s face was etched with disapproval. As usual.

“ Hey, Kise. Enough is enough. Aomine san is staying. You know how hard it is to find a decent body guard these days who doesn’t mind how much he’s paid? I don’t care what shitty history you two have. Fix it and get on with yourselves before I come back,” he announces and slams the door after him. Kise stutters incoherent words as he is left by himself to “ fix things” with the man he left six years ago.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Kise remembers stumbling along the crowded streets that night, not in his right mind. He remembers bumping into people, mumbling quick apologies after. Some girls had stopped to whisper “ Kise kun? Is that Kise kun?”_

_“ No, I don’t think it’s him,” another would whisper back, “ let’s go.”_

_Well now, things cannot get worse, Kise thinks, looking up towards the dark skies. And then it starts raining, pouring actually._

_Well, fuck me._

_“ Honestly, Dai chan,” he hears a familiar voice chirp._

_Kise’s head whips around in search of that voice until he sees them._

_There, right in front of him were Aomine and Momoi, two heads huddled together under Momoi’s bright pink umbrella. It looked as if they were headed his way. Kise, startled at the sight of Aomine, scrambles into a random alley way to let them pass him by. What in the world were those two doing here, of all times? He curses. He hears Momoi sigh loudly. It seems that she was upset about something._

_“ I can’t believe you. Ki-chan tells you he loves you and you don’t say it back?”_

_Kise watches as Momoi reaches out to slap Aomine on the shoulder, disapproval written all over her pretty face._

_“ Oi, quit it, will ya?” Aomine complains as he blocks her violent little hands. They pause right before Kise’s little hiding spot and Kise prays to dear lord that they don’t discover him. It was good that they were too immersed in their own conversation to notice the little blonde head peeking out from around the corner._

_“ Well? Do you love him too?”_

_Kise feels his breath hitch as he bites his lips, debating whether not he wants to hear his answer._

_" Do I love Kise Ryouta, huh?" Aomine repeats in wonder. " Well, he's a complete cry baby, and he has those annoying ass fangirls chasing him every single day. It's so fucking annoying going out with him. Oh, did ya know I scored higher than him on that language test the other day? He's so stupid."_

_He really didn't, but Kise doesn't say anything to risk exposing his hiding place. He frowns._

_You're the stupid one, he wants to say._

 

_“ But…Of course, I do,” he hears Aomine mutter and thats when he completely and utterly breaks._

_Kise doesn’t understand. Aomine loves him too, he was worried for nothing. If anything, he should be thrilled. And yet…he feels nothing but anxiety._

_Guilt._

_Momoi frowns again, although her expression kinder than before._

_“ Then you really do suck. Make sure you tell him soon, okay?”_

_Aomine groans and scratches his head with his free hand._

_“ I got it, I got it. Now help me practice. I’ve never had to say these kinds of things in my life.”_

_“ Eh? Why do I have to help you? I don't want to hear you say those things, how gross.”_

_Kise watches as they walk past him, until they were out of ear reach._

_And then Kise understands. It’s because Aomine loves him, it’s because he loves Aomine, that he couldn’t afford to be selfish with him._

_“ The choice is up to you. You can keep Daiki, if you don’t mind being the one responsible for him losing his family that is.”_

_Aomine’s father’s words resurface in his hazy mind. But how in the world could Kise not mind? How could he make Aomine choose between him and the people who loved him and raised him his whole entire life? He couldn’t._

_He wouldn’t._

_So what now?_

_So he has to leave._

_Leave where?_

_Wasn’t there an international modelling agency interested in you? A voice inside his head whispers. Maybe it’s time to take them up on that offer._

_Maybe, Kise agrees._

_And that was when the tears came._

 

* * *

 

 

Kise takes a deep breath as he turns to face Aomine who was still sprawled out across his couch. He scowls at the tanned blunnette.

“ Listen, here. I don’t care what Kasamatsu senpai says. You’re not working for me, and that is that. By the way, that couch was expensive. Don’t lay on it with your dirty shoes still on.”

Aomine sits up and stares at Kise.

“ Why didn’t you tell me you were being threatened and attacked?” Aomine asks, voice serious again.

“ Eh? It’s nothing serious, it happens to all celebrities at one point—hey, wait. Don’t change the subject here. Did you not understand me last time? What’s with the sudden attitude change anyway?”

Aomine shrugs.

“ How did you find out about this job anyway? What about your other one? I thought you worked at a police force.”

“ I took a long, long leave of absence.”

Kise throws his hands up in he’s not sure which—frustration or disbelief. Probably both.

He doesn’t get it. Kise left this, this idiotic shit head six years ago without a single explanation as to why. (It was actually all because he loved Aomine, and didn’t want Aomine to have to choose between his parents and his boyfriend, but Aomine doesn’t know that.) Kise then comes back unannounced and gives him the cold shoulder, announcing that he came back for his best friend not him. And then he makes up some false accession about Aomine and Momoi for good measures, and this idiot takes a leave of absence from a good stable job for what? Just to become Kise’s body guard. Was he actually stupid? He was supposed to have moved on, have broken a couple hearts or two and be settled down with a nice and pretty girl by now. He was supposed to have the normal life that Kise couldn’t possibly ever give to him.

He’s actually seriously, severely brain damaged, Kise decides.

“ I moved on, Aomine,” Kise clarifies, just in case Aomine didn’t understand the first time.

“ I don’t care,” Aomine replies cooly.

Wait, what? Kise blinks and stares.

“ Huh?”

Aomine yawns and stretches, then hops off of Kise’s long white couch and moves toward the blonde.

“ You know, I went to a bar after that. I got seriously drunk, and had to have Tetsu and that…what’s his face…that red haired cocky bastard with all the money—“

“ Akashi Seijuro.”

“ Yeah him. He drove me home. And then I just sat there, thinking. About everything. About how it wasn’t fair. About how fucking miserable you made me for the past six years. About what I have to do to make myself not miserable,” Aomine pauses and grins.

Kise feels his heart stutter at that familiar grin. The very same grin he fell in love with all those years ago.

“ And then it hit me.”

“…what hit you?” Aomine takes a step forward and Kise takes a step back.

“ I was being all mopey about how you moved on, about how you apparently moved on to Tetsu of all people, and I realised that none of it mattered.”

“ What?”

Kise’s back hits the edge of his dining table and he realises he couldn’t back away anymore.

“ All I have to do, is make you fall in love with me all over again. I did it once, I should be able to do it again.”

Kise doesn’t believe his ears.

“ That’s stupid—“

And then Kise couldn’t say anymore because in one swoop of a hand, Aomine leans in a grabs the back of Kise’s neck, pulling him into a hot and hungry kiss filled with desire and passion. Their lips crash together, and Kise protests, but Aomine is stronger.

“ I love you.” Kise’s heart stops.

Aomine’s breath is hot against his cheek as Kise blinks, thinking he’s hallucinated those three words.

“ I loved you six years ago, Kise,” Aomine says. “ And I love you now. I should have said this six years ago, but better late than never, right?”

Kise is speechless as Aomine slides away from the model, a smirk playing on his lips and a playful glint in his deep blue eyes.

“ Think about that tonight, why don’t you?” He says over his shoulder as he opens the door.

Kise blinks and comes back to his senses just as the door swings shut behind him. Kise throws open the door.

“ I’m definitely firing you!” He shouts at Aomine’s retreating figure. “ Don’t bother coming tomorrow!”

But Aomine only laughs and waves without even a glance backwards.

Kise lets out a strangled cry of frustration as he slams the door shut behind him.

He definitely.

Most surely.

Hates that man, he decides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's what happened between Aomine and Kise. What did you guys think?


	12. Mine, and only mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys :D   
> Sorry I haven't posted for a long time, but here is another chapter! Yay? Hahaha.

There are seven billion people who live in this world, and of those seven billion people, there are those who are special, and those who are not.

Those special people are the ones who shine, the ones who stand out. They’re the ones who end up doing all the admirable things in life… Ah, I guess he would fall into that “special” category.

Akashi Seijuro.

He’s definitely something. I watch as Akashi brushes a lock of crimson hair out of his mix matched cat like eyes, his other hand curled around a shiny black fountain pen. He mutters words under neath his breath in a language I can’t really understand. French, probably.

Yes, definitely special, I think.

“ If you have something to say, say it,” Akashi murmurs, flipping through his foreign documents without a single glance upwards.

I jump a little, startled to have gotten caught.

Special and strangely intuitive.

“ Akashi kun is mistaken, I wasn’t staring,” I say, turning my attention back to the files he wanted me to sort.

Akashi pauses as his eyes lift to meet mine. His lips curve upwards, as he sets down his pen. “ You know you really ought to brush up on your lying skills, Tetsuya. I can see right through you.”

“ On the contrary, many people say that I have an excellent poker face,” I reply, before I glance away.

It’s not that I was afraid of Akashi’s eyes. I was afraid of what he might see in mine. I was afraid he might see right through me, see through my pitiful feelings that I have come to realise I do in fact harbour for him. Knowing how sharp someone like Akashi is, I know for a fact that it’s only a matter of time before he figures me out. And when he does, he’ll understand that I was just a temporary source of entertainment for him, nothing important. I did promise that I would get lost from his world when it comes to that.

So essentially I was just running a race against time, huh?

Akashi’s eyes narrow, and he reaches over to tilt my chin upwards, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“ What are you thinking? Tell me,” he demands.

“ W..why do I have to tell Akashi kun what’s on my mind?” I say quietly, trying my best to carry my usual poker face.

Akashi scowls and lets out an annoyed sigh, letting go of my face.

“ Tetsuya, you really do infuriate me.”

My eyebrows furrow. “ How so?”

“ I thought..I was sure that by now, I would have your worth to me calculated through and through. I should have been able to come up with a number by now, even an approximate one,” he says, reaching up to brush his fingers along the slight arch of my eyebrows.

I shiver in response.

“ And yet,” he whispers, then frowns. “ …Nothing. It’s been so long and you’re still an unsolvable riddle to me. It’s annoying.”

“ I’ll apologise, then,” I say. “ for being annoying.”

Akashi snorts and leans away from me, “ It’s not your apology that I want, Tetsuya. Go and check on Ryouta for me if you’re not being useful here. His photo shoot should be ending about now.”

 

 

 

 

“ Last shot! Kise san, tilt the phone a little more towards the camera please. A little more—Yes! That’s perfect. Now smile!”

Kise smiles his most sunny smile, and the lights flash, momentarily blinding me.

“ Whoa,” I mutter, blinking at the green dots that danced across my vision. As they clear, I watch the blonde before me in complete awe. It was Kise up there, and yet it wasn’t. Kise was dressed from head to toe in pure white. The only colour on him was the bright yellow of his hair. I watch in pure amazement as Kise transforms in front of the camera. Was this the same Kise that I bullied all through middle school and high school? I suppose he’s one of those special people too.

“ What do ya think, Tetsu? He looks pretty amazing, doesn’t he?”

“ Yes, amazing.”

Wait. Where…

“ Aomine kun!” I exclaim, completely caught off guard as I whirled around to see the azure haired man grinning down at me. “ Wait. What are you doing here?” Aomine leans back against the refreshments counter and flashes me a smug smirk.

“ Im his body guard now.”

Well, now I was really lost.

“ You’re Kise kun’s body guard?” I repeat flatly. “ Please don’t joke around with me, Aomine kun. We live together. I know you work at a police department. The same place you’ve worked at for the past two years…remember?”

“ Apparently not anymore,” I hear an irked voice grumble.

“ Kise,” Aomine says, eyes lighting up. “ Good job today, ya looked pretty good.”

Kise glares at him in response. He turns to me with a harsh scowl that doesn’t suit him at all.

“ Kurokocchi. Help me get rid of him,” he says with a huff.

“ Oi, stop being difficult, why don’t you Kise.”

Thankfully, I’m smart enough to know what’s best for me in this situation.

“ Ah,” I lie as best as I can, “ Akashi kun said to come back immediately after I checked up on Kise kun. Then if you’ll excuse me—“

I whirl around on my feet to leave. Kise’s fingers close around my wrist like an iron vice grip.

“ Akashicchi can wait. Kurokocchi, tell your idiot of a best friend here to stop being such a stubborn ass,” Kise spits in Aomine’s direction.

“ Which one of my idiot best friends?” I mumble quietly to myself.

Aomine is strangely calm as he answers with a nonchalant grin. “ You know, Kise. They say that the more one argues, the more said person cares. Just admit it, you still love m—-“

“ You’re fired!” Kise cries. “ And I’ve never heard of anything along those lines.”

I watch with horrified eyes as Aomine just shrugs.

What the heck was happening? How did Aomine become Kise’s body guard of all things? I thought things were over between them. Wait, when did Aomine stop being such a messed up drunk and where in the world did all that confidence come from? It was like watching a showdown between a dark smirking devil and a brilliant infuriated avenging angel. How did my life go from quiet afternoons teaching children Japanese history to this? I shift uncomfortably at the tense silence.

“ Um.”

“ Give it a rest, Kise. If I didn’t leave when you fired me the first time, I’m not going to leave when you fire me for the ninth time.”

Ninth time?

“ God, Aomine. You’re so insufferable!”

“ You know, the way you’re so energetic reminds of how you are in bed. Tetsu, did you know? This guy—-“

“ That’s it,” I blurt before Kise could curse anymore swear words in Aomine’s face. “ I apologise—ah..no, wait. I’m not even sorry," I realise.

 

There is a silence.

" I’m leaving,” I announce.

Kise’s eyes widen in panic.

“ No, no! Wait, Kurokocchi, you can’t leave. Don’t leave me alone with him!” He says as he trails after me, Aomine close behind. “ At least take him with you, huh? Please?”

A nerve in my temple twitches dangerously just as I spot Akashi’s pretty red head coming in our direction. I’ve never been more relieved to see Akashi Seijuro in my entire life.

“ Akashi kun!” I call, eagerly hurrying to his side.

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi greets in a cool tone. “ I was just looking for you—“

Without bothering to explain why, I grab his hand and pull him away from that mess of my two idiotic friends. I don’t stop walking until we pass the receptionist desk, where Hotaru flashes me a gaping look, and then out the door. I take a deep breath and sigh.

“ Never again,” I mutter.

I make a mental note to avoid those two from now on until they sort they’re problems out like the level headed adults they both obviously weren’t. It isn’t until Akashi clears his throat that I realise I am still holding his hand. I let go of it with a short “ Ah.”

“ I apologise,” I say with a dip of my head. “ I recall Akashi kun doesn’t like being touched by other people.”

Akashi only stares at his hand as if it’s something he’s never seen before. “ Yes…I don’t…in fact I should hate it very much…but..” he mumbles, then catches himself as he becomes aware of my careful eyes. Akashi clears his throat. The fog clears from Akashi’s eyes as an evil glint takes it’s place. I gulp as Akashi smirks. Dear god, I detest that smirk of his so much. “ Never mind that. Right now, I have some very important places to go to, and you Tetsuya, have to come with me.”

“ Important places?” I ask suspiciously.

“ Very important,” he confirms.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

“ Akashi kun.”

“ Yes, Tetsuya?”

“ This is the very important place you had to go to?”

“ Yes, that’s right,” Akashi answers, then frowns. “ Why? Do you not like Chinese cuisine?”

I shake my head as I follow Akashi into our VIP room in confusion.

“ It’s not that, but….ah,” I pause as realisation hits me. “ Are you meeting with an important business partner right now?”

Yes, that must be it, I think to myself.

“ If I were to meet with any business partners, you would know, wouldn’t you, Tetsuya?”

“ That’s true,” I murmur thoughtfully. I am Akashi’s assistant, I should know his everyday schedule like the back of my hand.

“ Wait, then why are we here?” Akashi gives me a blank stare and motions for me to take a seat as he sinks into the intricately carved red oak chair across from mine. “ I had a sudden desire to eat Chinese food,” he says with a sniff as I sit down as I’m told. “ You were there beside me, so I thought I’d be generous and take you with me.”

“…Is that so?” I say with a suspicious glance at Akashi’s emotionless face.

“ Indeed.” We fall into comfortable silence after Akashi orders the food he apparently had “ a sudden desire” for.

Weird. It was definitely weird.

My phone buzzes in my pocket.

Kurokocchi. Help me~ \\(T.T)/

-received 12:30 pm

I decide to ignore him and I set my phone back down. Kise could deal with Aomine himself. There’s no way I’m going to willingly get involved in that mess again. Kise doesn’t get the hint as usual and my phone goes off again.

Kurokocchi TT.TT Don’t ignore me~~

-received 12:31pm

Kise kun, I type with a sigh. Im busy. Aomine kun is not that difficult to deal with. Knock him out and you should be fine——

I shake my head as I realise who’s responsibility it would be if Aomine actually does hurt his head.

Better not create unnecessary work for yourself, Kuroko, I think with a small nod. I delete the last part and just went with Kise kun, Im busy.

Send.

The reply was almost immediate.

Kurokocchi, are you mad? :O Don’t get mad! You’re the only one who that idiot will listen to, pleased helpppppp.

-received 12:32 pm.

“…Tetsuya…Tetsuya!”

My head snaps up in a daze as I meet Akashi’s frustrated scowl. He sighs sharply and glares at me.

“ I called you so many times. Who are you texting that’s seemingly so important?” He demands.

“ It’s Kise kun.”

“ Ryouta again?” Akashi’s eyes narrow. “ Tell him that you’re busy. With me.”

“I’ve already told him that,” I say carefully, surprised by how upset Akashi was.

Upon hearing that, Akashi’s eyes immediately brightened and his shoulders relaxed.

“ Oh,” he says simply. “ Good.”

“ Right,” I breathe, slowly taking another sip of my chicken soup in even deeper confusion.

“ Say, Akashi kun…”

“ What is it, Tetsuya?” I pause, a little scared to ask my next question. “ Um, I’m sorry if I’m mistaken, but is this a…a date?”

Akashi’s chopsticks stop midway to his mouth and for a moment, I’m afraid that I made him angry again.

“ That depends,” he says after a pregnant pause. “ Do you want this to be a date?”

His eyes flicker to mine expectantly and I’m trapped under the full force of his intense gaze once again.

Gosh darn, those eyes.

“ I..um..” I frown, dazzled by his beautiful features. “ No?” I went with the safe answer.

Wrong answer, I think, biting my lip nervously as Akashi’s eyes darken dangerously.

“ Then it’s not a date,” he replies cooly with a wave of his hand. “ I’m merely gathering information right now. Trying to figure you out is a difficult task.”

“ I see…”

I take another sip of my soup as I try not to feel disappointed by Akashi’s apathetic behaviour towards me. Should I have said yes? No, I think with a shake of my head. What difference would that have made? I can’t let him figure out that I do in fact like him, since I know that Akashi Seijuro doesn’t do well with people once emotions come into play.

“ So how is that going anyway?” I ask after a while. “ You trying to figure me out.”

“ Well..I’ve got a theory or two,” Akashi’s eyes flutter away from mine, surprisingly. He sneaks a glance at me and glances away again when I stare right back.

I frown and stand up, leaning across the table to place my hand on his forehead. Akashi catches my hand and my heart glitches as his fingers curl around my hand.

“ What in the world do you think you’re doing, Tetsuya?”

“ Checking for your temperature,” I reply with a frown. “ You’ve been weird ever since we came back from the orphanage, but you’re being especially weird today. Are you sick, Akashi kun? Ah—you’re face is becoming red. You are sick after all. Maybe we should head back to the—-”

Akashi snorts and pushes my hand away with an arrogant scoff. “ Do not lie, Tetsuya. I do not get sick, nor does my face ever get red. Never before in my twenty five years.”

I eye his flushed skin doubtfully.

“ Your face really is red, though.”

Akashi lets out an irritated sigh. “ You’re observations are annoying me, Tetsuya. Come. We will go somewhere where your enormous eyes can’t make anymore of those observations.”

 

 

 

 

 

“ Akashi kun.”

“ Hmn?”

I turn to Akashi who was pulling out a shiny golden card from his expensive leather wallet with an unimpressed expression.

“ Are you sure this isn’t a date?”

“ Tetsuya. I believe I have made myself clear that I don’t waste my time doing such things.” I lift my hands, which held two tickets for the newest horror movie playing these days.

I send him a pointed look.

“ What?” Akashi says innocently.

I sigh and put the tickets away.

“ You took me to lunch. And now we’re in a movie theatre,” I dead pan.

“ Yes. And? These are just coincidently the things I want to do today.”

Why do I even bother trying to reason with him? I shake my head with a defeated little shake. “ Never mind,” I mutter under my breath.

As we walk into the theatre, Akashi holds out his hand to me expectantly. I stare at it with a blank expression and Akashi lifts it higher.

“ Lead me,” he commands. “ I can’t see.”

This was definitely a lie.

“ Akashi kun, you have a perfect twenty twenty vision. You see things that normal people can’t see even with glasses.”

Akashi frowns. “ Do not question me, Tetsuya. I can see well in the morning, I’ve never mentioned anything about being able to see at night.”

I take his hand slowly, trying to ignore the little voice screaming inside my head saying You’re holding his hand!

As we sat down in our seats, I awkwardly try to slip my hand out of his tight grasp. Akashi notices this and holds on tighter.

“ Just let it be,” I hear his icy voice say. “ You’ll need it when you get frightened later.”

“ But I’m not scared of ghosts—-“

I could see Akashi’s eyes flash murderously even in the dark.

“ You’ll need it,” he insists, and that was the end of that conversation.

I sat through the entire movie with his cool refined hand curled around mine. I didn’t even know what the plot of the movie was, since truth be told, Akashi’s leg occasionally brushing against mine did more damages to my poor little heart than the jump scares did.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The one thing that I’ve always loved about Tokyo were the city lights.

I let out a long breath, watching as people gathered around every corner of every street. Watching as people waved hello to each other, and others waved good bye, while some others just passed each other by. I wonder if Akashi and I had met on the streets like two regular people, would we have noticed each other like we did that night we first met?

“ What are you thinking, Tetsuya?” Akashi’s voice sounds from behind me.

I shake my head wistfully.

“ Nothing,” I reply with a small smile as I turned around to face him. “ I was just thinking about when we first met.”

A raised eyebrow. “ Oh?”

“ Well,” I say with a small shuffle of my feet, “ even though this isn’t a date, thank you Akashi kun. I had fun today.”

Akashi pauses before his lips curve upwards in amusement.

“ Of course,” he whispers in astonishment to himself. “ How did I not see it earlier?”

“ …Akashi kun?”

When Akashi meets my eyes, my blood runs cold.

Akashi takes a step towards me and I fall a step back, startled and fearful.

It was over. He knows.

I take another involuntary step backwards and Akashi’s fingers close around my wrist, pulling me in towards him.

My nose almost touching his chin.

Akashi leans down and I feel his cold lips linger against my ear.

“ You haven’t been very honest have you, Tetsuya?”

I shutter and swallow hard.

Lie your way through it Kuroko, I chant to myself.

Deep breaths. Poker face, come on.

“ I …don’t understand what Akashi kun is saying,” I say with a shaky laugh, “ and you’re too close, people are staring—-“

Akashi’s fingers close around my wrist as he pulls me even closer.

“ You understand exactly what i am saying,” Akashi murmurs in a low seductive voice.

His lips trail from my ear to my cheeks, his breath cool against my skin.

I stop breathing.

“ You like me.”

It wasn’t even a question. It was a statement. Akashi was that confident. I open my mouth to object, to tell him he’s wrong, but no words come out. Akashi smirks his trademark smirk as his lips inch closer and closer to mine.

“ Since you are so fond of me, Tetsuya, I’ll give you a rare proposition I’ve never offered to anybody before,” he grins a crooked grin, a sly spark in his red and golden eyes. “ Become mine, and only mine.”

My brain stops working and time stands still as those beautiful hands of his swoop down to entrap my motionless and numb face. His lips meet mine in a cold and sweet kiss that tasted of salty movie theatre popcorn and cool winter air.


	13. Coincidences and complications

“ Become mine, and only mine.”

His words run through my head again and again, voice sounding so demanding as usual, and confident. So very confident.

Akashi’s lips part and I feel his arrogant smirk against my closed mouth.

“ Come to my place with me tonight, Tetsuya,” he breathes in my ear. “ we can relive the day we first met, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

I could feel what he was doing to me. He was luring me in with that low seductive voice of his, twisting his way into my heart. This was what he was after all along, I realise with a start. That time he invited me to dinner…the day he invited me over for the very first time, he had tried to start something with me hadn’t he?

_And what’s wrong with that?_ A devious voice whispers inside my head. _You like him don’t you? Why don’t you take this chance and go home with him tonight?_

I could, I think. I could let myself fall into his arms right now, but…. If I agree…If I open up towards him…what would become of us? Would we start dating? Even if we do…We would never have a future together anyway. How could Akashi Seijuro, CEO and heir to the almighty Akashi corporation and a regular orphanage worker have a future together? Either way, all the odds were not in my favour. How Akashi feels about me, I have no idea, but I know that in the end, he will leave me to protect his name. 

His family legacy.

Why make myself go through with that?

Yes, it’s better to put a stop to things before I fall in too deep to save myself.

I sigh and rest my hands on his chest before gently pushing him away. Surprise flickers across Akashi’s eyes as he probably hadn’t been expecting rejection.

“ …Tetsuya?”

“ I... appreciate your…offer,” I say quietly, my eyes trained to my hands lingering on his chest. I glance up and notice that Akashi’s face has gone cold. I gulp with difficulty. I lick my lips and try to force out my next words. “ But, I think Akashi kun is mista——“

“ I think Tetsuya is the one who is mistaken,” Akashi says sharply. “ Right now, I can see right through you. You like me.”

“ Well, Akashi kun is wrong.”

“ Tetsuya, I am never wrong.”

“ Akashi kun, you’re much too confident,” I say with an exasperated huff before turning on my feet.

“ What—-,”

There was an irritated edge in Akashi’s voice also. “ Where in the world do think you’re going, Tetsuya?”

I hear his angry footsteps catch up behind me.

“ Home.”

“ You don’t even know the way home,” he snaps.

That was true.

“ I..I’ll take a taxi. Don’t worry Akashi kun. I know we have a flight to America to catch tomorrow morning. I will make it home tonight.”

An irritated sigh.

Akashi’s hand finds my elbow and stops me.

“ Tetsuya,” he hisses venomously. “ I do not like it when those that are mine do not listen to me.”

“ Akashi kun! I am not an _object_ you can claim,” I pause to take a deep breath. “ So please, _stop treating me like one_.”

Akashi says nothing and stares at me with an annoying patience.

I sigh in defeat. “ I apologise for raising my voice.”

“ I would hardly identify that as raising your voice,” Akashi murmurs, then pauses. “ If you must go home, at least allow me to drive you back.”

“ It’s alright—“

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi interrupts in a tired voice. “ Come.”

 

 

 

“…Suya? Tetsuya we’re here,” I hear someone say.

It was a nice voice. A soothing voice. It sounded like Akashi Seijuro. Akashi Seijuro whom I liked very much.

“ Akashi kun…” I think I mumbled.

“ Are you dreaming of me…Tetsuya?”

Amusement this time.

My eyes snap open and I jerk back as Akashi’s face appears before mine. A lock of his flaming red hair had fallen over his one red eye, leaving the gold one to stand out, gleaming like those of a feline’s. It really is hard to pretend to not like a man when said man was so god darn beautiful.

I coughed as I unbuckled my seat belt.

“ You said my name,” Akashi muses quietly, a smug grin lighting up his face. “ Are you absolutely sure you feel nothing for me, Tetsuya?”

I frown. “ Nothing.”

Akashi chuckles then shrugs. “ Fine, say what you wish, but just know that I do not believe in your flimsy lies.”

“ …Thank you for driving me home, Akashi kun. I will be at your house tomorrow morning with your driver to pick you up for our flight,” I change the subject . “ If you’ll excuse me, now—-“

“ Wait.”

I stop as the tone of seriousness and authority returns in Akashi’s voice. I turn to face him and he suddenly leans in. My eyes widen and my breath cuts short as he leans even closer.

Was he going to kiss me again?

But just as our lips were about to touch, Akashi pauses and plants a soft kiss on my forehead instead.

“ Good night, Tetsuya.”

Surprised at his uncharacteristically sweet gesture, I stutter incoherently.

“ Night…Good night, Akashi kun.”

 

 

Needless to say, I spent all night thinking about Akashi Seijuro and what exactly he was hoping to achieve by telling me to become his. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Aomine barges into my room, throwing the door open like some mad man and yanks my warm and comfortable blankets off of me in a frenzy. I groan a soft groan and burrow my head underneath my pillow.

“ Go away Aomine kun, it’s still early,” I complain in a daze.

“ Oi, Tetsu. That red haired bastard is here. Get rid of him.”

“ Red haired…Kagami kun?”

Aomine takes away my pillow as well and forces me to sit up. “ No, you little idiot. The other red haired bastard. The one with the money and the you know, royal-I’m-the-shit-attitude.”

Royal-I’m-the-shit-attitude?

“ Akashi kun.”

Now I was definitely awake. I quickly scramble to find my alarm clock, and I relax when I confirm that I have another half an hour to spare before I was originally scheduled to wake up. Then what in the world was Akashi doing here so early?

I don’t bother changing out of my pyjamas as I hurry out of my room where I find Akashi sitting on my sofa with his legs crossed and a lumpy package perched on his lap. I couldn’t help but marvel at how out of place Akashi looks in my sad excuse of an apartment.

“ It’s amusing how you say you have no interest in me, and yet you do nothing but stare at me, Tetsuya.” His cool voice breaks my enchanted trance and I shake my head.

“ I was just wondering why Akashi kun would come to my home so early in the morning,” I reply nonchalantly as I make my way over to him. Aomine follows closely behind me.

“ You see? Told you Tetsu wouldn’t want you here, either. Now get lost.”

Akashi raises a perfectly groomed brow. “ Do not be so rude, Daiki. Is that ever so the right way to treat a guest?”

“ A guest? I don’t see one—“

“ Aomine kun,” I protest. “ Akashi kun is right. If he’s here so early, it must mean theres something important that I must not know of.”

“ Hah? Why can’t he just text like a normal person.”

“ I do not text,” Akashi declares and crosses his arms.

Aomine blanches and sends him a flabbergasted stare. “ Why the hell not? Are you even from this century?”

“ I simply do not like——“

“ Wait,” I interrupt with a wave of my hand. I take another whiff of the air. “ Do I smell…Do I smell vanilla?”

Akashi smiles and holds up the package in his lap.

“ I brought pancakes. I thought we could have breakfast together, Tetsuya.”

 

 

 

 

 

“ You know,” Akashi murmurs with a judgmental scowl. “ I brought those pancakes for Tetsuya and I, but what in the world are you doing here too, Daiki? I thought you wanted me to get lost.”

Aomine grunts and shoves another forkful of pancake into his mouth that seems to lead to a never ending pit.

“ Shaddup,” He grumbles, “ you should have told me from the start that you brought food with you. And don’t call me Daiki.”

“ I am quite impressed, Akashi kun,” I say with a small smile. “ How did you know I like vanilla?”

Akashi smirks and rests his chin on his hand. “ You always order vanilla flavoured drinks whenever we are out,” Akashi says, then pauses to chuckle at my surprised expression. “ What? Are you surprised that I’ve noticed? You know I’ve always noticed you, Tetsuya.”

Oh my poor heart. The things it goes through these days.

“ …So uh…” Aomine says and gestures to the two of us with wide eyes. “ You two together now? Or…”

I gag on my pancakes. Akashi shrugs and continues to stare at me with a pointed look.

“ I don’t know, Daiki. It seems that Tetsuya here is not interested in me.”

“ Hahh? What are you talking about? Tetsu totally—-“

He cuts off his sentence with a pained groan as I stomp on his bare feet as hard as I can. Leave it to Aomine to ruin things with his dim witted words.

“ So about that CEO’s wedding we’re attending in America,” I say in a rush. “ Can I borrow something to wear from Akashi? I have nothing prepared.”

“ America?” Aomine echoes in confusion, then turns to me. “ You’re going to America? When?”

Aomine kun sometimes——

“ Today,” I say with an impatient sigh.

“ What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“ I did, Aomine kun. Two days ago, but you obviously weren’t listening,” I deadpan with a roll of my eyes.

Aomine turns quiet as he turns his attention to his empty plate.

“ America, huh…” He mumbles to himself. “ Oi, Tetsu. Are you going to visit that bastard? Kagami? He’s getting quite popular over there playing basketball, ain’t he?”

I freeze with my fork half way into my mouth as I pause to consider why I never even considered it.

“ Kagami kun,” I murmur, thoughtfully, then look up to Aomine with a growing grin. “ That’s right! He lives near Los Angeles doesn’t he?”

“ I think so.”

“ It’s been so long…”

“ Kagami? Kagami Taiga? That new basketball player? I’ve never heard you speak of him before, Tetsuya.”

“ Kagami is Tetsu’s boyfriend.”

“ My ex-boyfriend,” I correct, shooting Aomine a frustrated scowl.

“ Oh?” Akashi murmurs with a raise of his brow, his arrogant smirk vanishing.

“ Kagami kun was—-we were together, but due to him returning to America, we decided to break up. But we’re still friends,” I explain. “ He’s a good person.”

As I reminisced in my high school days with my old friend turned boyfriend, turned back to friend Kagami, I completely forgot about Akashi’s presence. And Akashi does not enjoy being forgotten.

“ Tetsuya, come,” Akashi says coldly with a dangerous flash of his eyes, and sets his fork down with a harsh clang. “ We will miss our flight if you keep chatting about the people who aren’t in our lives anymore.”

“…right. I apologise.”

I stare at his retreating figure by our doorway with a confused frown. Aomine hands me my duffel bag with a snort.

“ Rude bastard,” he mumbles under his breath.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

The plane ride was a painfully long one.

Mostly because Akashi ignored me the entire way, giving me only one word answers to whatever questions I asked. Occasionally, I saw him scrutinising me with a dead serious expression from the corner of my eye. Whenever I turned to meet his gaze, he would look away, as if he hadn’t been looking in the first place. Obviously the correct assumption would be that I had somehow made Akashi angry. So then I spent the entire twenty something hours from Japan to L.A. worrying about whatever it was I said that upset him.

“ We will meet with your father after we drop our bags off at the hotel,” I tell him quietly on the car. “ Then we will attend Ms. Alexandra Garcia’s wedding tomorrow night after your meeting with the representatives of the Akashi Corporation in the morning.”

“ Yes, I am aware,” he replies cooly and continues to stare out the window.

“ Akashi kun,” I blurt.

Akashi’s eyes drift to mine reluctantly. “ Yes, Tetsuya?”

“ Thank you for breakfast yesterday,” I say as I chicken out.

I feel Akashi’s eyes linger on me for a moment before he turns away again.

“ You’re quite welcome.”

A chilling smile.

There it is again. My eyebrows furrow in frustration. Perhaps to any onlooker, they wouldn’t be able to tell Akashi Seijuro was currently in a bad mood, but it was plainly obvious to me. It just doesn’t make any sense. If anyone should be upset, it should be me. I was the one getting stringed along, sometimes getting touched, sometimes getting kissed. I was the one who got told “ become mine” by someone, because he felt like being “generous,” whatever that meant. I was the one who was treated like property more than a person.

But he’s also nice to you most of the times, a voice reminds me. He’s the one who’s there whenever you need help, he’s the one who’s gotten you out of your shell, who got you to meet new people. He’s the one who made you realise that theres a lot more you are capable of than you think.

I sigh. “ Akashi kun is a confusing person,” I say quietly while plopping my head against the window.

“ Tetsuya is the one who’s confusing,” Akashi murmurs back.

As we drive up to our hotel, Akashi turns to me and asks for his brief case and room key. I hand them to him.

“ Are you not going up with me?” I ask and check my schedule. “ There’s not much time if you’re thinking of going anywhere else. You’re scheduled to meet with your father in—-“

“ I am going to meet with my father alone,” Akashi tells me.

“ Why is that?”

“ Private family matters to attend to,” was his reply.

I nod slowly. “ When will you return? And what would you like me to do while you’re gone?”

“ I do not know when I will return, and you should just stay in your room. Order room service. Enjoy the pool or something.”

And then he was gone.

“ Okay,” I mumble to no one in particular, thinking about the disastrous scene I caused the last time I tried to swim.

Definitely no swimming for me today.

 

 

 

 

“ Idiot Akashi kun,” I curse as I flip through all the TV channels.

The idiot really is me since I forgot to bring that book I was reading. I didn’t think that out of the two days I would have here in L.A., one of them I would spend doing absolutely nothing. I sigh as I confirm that all the channels were in english. My stomach growls in protest.

“ Great,” I mumble, sifting through my duffel bag to search for my wallet. “ Now I’m bored and hungry.”

I frown as I go through my entire duffel bag and still. 

No wallet.

Don’t tell me I’m bored, hungry, AND poor.

I groan as I realise that both my wallet and my phone were still on Akashi’s car. With another tired sigh, I drag myself off of the huge king sized bed and pad out the door, hoping that I could conjure up enough understandable English to try and communicate with the front desk that I needed Akashi Seijuro’s phone number since I couldn’t recite it from the top of my head.

As I make my way down to the grand lobby, I notice a bunch of reporters crowding in the lobby, murmuring excitedly in English. I pick up the word basketball, but that’s about it.

My god Kuroko Tetsuya, You’ve forgotten everything you’ve learned in school. I shake my head. Well, it’s not like I was a brilliant student either. Plainly average. And that was when I noticed the figure walking in front of me.

It was a man, obviously, judging from his height. He was about as tall as Aomine, and he had on basketball shorts and a huge sweater with the hood pulled up, despite it being quite warm out. There was something familiar about the way he walked…

“ …Excuse me,” I say in the best english I can manage.

The man turns around and jumps. “ Whoa! Where in the world did you come from——-Kuroko?”

I blink as he switches to Japanese mid sentence.

No way….

He lifts off his huge sunglasses and I watch as recognition seeps into his deep red eyes, followed by surprise, then confusion.

 

 

 

“ …Kagami kun?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kagami appears! Leave a comment below and tell me if you want him to be a regular character in this fic.   
> Thanks guys!


	14. All in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi   
> I'm so sorry i haven't posted in a while. I just started university and I'm already dying haha.   
> i'll try my best to keep regular posts tho. Oh! and thanks for all the suggestions on the last chapter :)  
> Anyways, i hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

“ Kagami kun?”

 

My voice comes out a sharp and surprised breath. I look him up and down, confirming that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. Perhaps I was so hungry that I’ve started hallucinating?   
But none of Kagami’s enormous one hundred and eighty something centimetre tall body to his peculiar split eyebrows were a part of my delirious hallucinations.   
Kagami takes a step towards me in mirroring surprise. He lifts a hand to touch my teal head, but a cry from across the grand hall catches our attention instead. 

“There he is!”  
“ Catch him!”  
“ Taiga Kagami, please answer a few questions for us!”  
“ How do you feel starting off the new season?”  
“ Is it true you will be returning to Japan to do advertising?”

A bunch of reporters hollered and cried in both Japanese and English as they scrambled in our direction.   
I feel a wave of cold sweep over my body as my eyes bulge at the sight of so many people running towards Kagami—towards me at once.   
This is how I die, I think as I envision it.  
Kuroko Tetsuya: 199x-201x  
Cause of death: run over by mob of reporters.   
A huge and warm hand closes over my elbow and tugs. I fall forward with a soft “oof.”  
“ Come on, let’s go, Kuroko,” Kagami says urgently, tugging harder, pulling me towards the door.   
“ Wha—?” I say, my eyes still on the reporters running across the hall. “ What do you mean? Go where?”  
Kagami snorts impatiently.  
“ Anywhere. Holy crap, you idiot! You wanna get trampled over by those guys?”  
I shake my head no.   
“ Then come on!” Kagami tugs one more time, and this time, I don’t resist.   
His hand clenches firmly onto my elbow as we make a break for it, bolting out the huge revolving doors. Kagami pulls me towards a sleek black motorcycle parked outside the entrance and jumps on it, motioning for me to do the same.   
I gawk at the monstrosity of a vehicle before me. If I had thought that Akashi’s race car was bad, this is most likely going to be much, much worse.   
“ Kuroko!” Kagami snaps, eyebrows furrowing in the way they always do whenever I made him annoyed or angry.   
“ Since when does Kagami kun drive around motor—“  
“ No time!”  
He grabs me by the waist and hoists me onto the back of the bike in one move despite my protests. He kicks the thing and it springs to life, a deafening roar unlike the purr of Akashi’s car.   
“ You better hang on tight.”  
And then we were off. 

 

 

 

“ Kuroko. Kuroko we’re here——Oi! Kuroko! Are you okay? I told you to hang on tight…”  
I give a weak sign of life, and slowly unwind my arms from Kagami’s back. I climb down from that murderous bike with a shake of my head. We had ridden for only about ten minutes or so, but those ten minutes were the longest ten minutes I’ve ever experienced in my life. I remember having my arms roped around Kagami’s waist for dear life, as I squeezed my eyes shut, the wind slapping against my face.  
“ Never again,” I mumble under my breath.   
Kagami lets out a loud laugh and grins down at me.   
“ Sorry ‘bout that. I really hate all the reporter stuff you know, answering their questions and all. They just stuff their microphones in your face and expect you to play nice.”  
I roll my eyes.   
“ it’s their job, Kagami kun.”  
“ Whatever,” he scoffs and looks down at me again, confused this time. “ Wait. What are you doing in America in the first place? Don’t tell me you’re here on vacation.”  
I shake my head.   
“ Please do not joke, Kagami kun. I am a teacher who teaches children at a poor orphanage. Do you think I would have money to pay for a trip to America?”  
“ Then why are you here?”  
I sigh and glance around our settings. My eyes widen when I see what I am looking for.   
“ We should talk, Kagami kun,” I say in a soft and kind voice. I even smiled.   
Kagami glances at me suspiciously and nods.   
“ Uh huh..”  
“ Do you have money, Kagami kun?” I ask innocently.   
“ …yes?”  
My lips curve upwards and I lace my fingers around his arm. My stomach lurches expectantly.   
“ Good.”

 

“ Hey, Kuroko,” Kagami says in an irked voice. He was wearing a baseball cap over his deep red hair and a huge pair of sunglasses that covered about half his face. I laughed at him when he whipped them out of his bag, but he explained that it was to prevent people from recognising him.   
His eyes twitches as he points to the mountain of hamburgers between us, then at his empty wallet with a pointed look.   
My swallow the huge mouthful of burger I had in my mouth and say in monotone, “yes Kagami kun?”  
He closes his eyes and sighs in frustration.   
“ We haven't seen each other in six years and the first thing you do is steal my money?”  
I shake my head.   
“ Kagami kun, you have misunderstood me. I will only eat one as usual, the other twenty burgers are for you. You should be thanking me instead.”  
“ It’s my money, you know?”  
I pause for a moment, then I nod.   
“ Ah….right,” I murmur, then dip my head in a little bow. “ Thank you very much for the meal.”  
Kagami snorts and waves his hand in a dismissive manner.   
“ Never mind,” he says. His eyes trail to the cup in my hand and he chuckles.   
“ You’re still drinking that after all these years?”  
I take a long swig of my vanilla milkshake in response. The taste is a lot sweeter than it is in Japan. I suppose Americans really do take their sugar and cream in huge amounts as rumours have stated.  
Kagami’s eyes deep red eyes lock with my teal blue ones and he glances away on impulse.   
“ You’re still doing that,” I say observingly.   
“ Doing what?”  
“ You can’t meet my eyes.”  
Kagami’s face glows a slow red and he stammers incoherently.   
“ Idiot! I-its obviously cause of your freakishly huge eyes. They’re creepy!”  
I frown.   
“ That is not nice, Kagami kun. And my eyes are not ‘freakishly huge,’ they’re just a little bigger than average,” I say with a little sniff.   
“ Wh..whatever.”  
We resume eating in a comfortable silence and memories from my high school days come rushing back to me. Kagami pauses inhaling his burgers and frowns.   
“ What’s with that look?” He asks.   
“ What look?”  
“ That weird satisfied look you get when you’re happy.”  
I chuckle and set down my half eaten burger.   
“ I was just thinking…. this brings back memories, doesn’t it? We used to do this often after school.”  
Kagami stops chewing and considers this.   
“ Except we were both students back then, and being a professional basketball player was only a dream for you. And now you’ve finally achieved your goal,” I say with a proud smile. Kagami blushes again and I pause thoughtfully. “ Now that I think about it, we were dating back then too, weren’t we?”  
And then the soft pink blush on Kagami’s cheeks shift to a deep tomato flush that almost matches his hair.   
“ Oi Kuroko, stop talking about—-wait you never answered my question. What the hell are you doing here, anyway?”  
Oh right. I never did answer that question since whenever I wasn’t too busy staring at all the food choices on the menu, I was dragging an uncooperative basketball player into a lonely McDonalds in the middle of no where.  
I set my empty burger wrapper down and wipe my lips with the ketchup stained napkin on my tray.   
“ I’m here on a business trip,” I say. “ With the CEO of A.S. Electronics.”  
Kagami lets out a loud guffaw of laughter before he waves me on.   
“ You? With the CEO of A.S. Electronics?”   
“ Yes, that is correct.”  
“ Right,” Kagami says with a snort.  
“ I know it’s hard to believe,” I say in a quiet and tired voice, eyes downcast. “ What would someone like me be doing with someone like him, am I right?”  
I was able to avoid thinking about Akashi and all the complicated feelings that came along with him while I was catching up with Kagami, but now, Akashi’s retreating figure returns to haunt my thoughts.   
Kagami’s laughter dies away as he regards me in an uncharacteristically quiet manner.   
“ Oi…you’re serious?”  
“ Yes. Quite serious.”  
Kagami is quiet for a long minute, his eyes scanning each and every plane of my face.   
“ There’s something on your mind,” he states, eyes narrowing.   
Kagami Taiga may be a talented basketball player, but he is definitely not known for being an intelligent human being. I raise my eyes to meet his in surprise at his perceptiveness. Being observant had always been my forte.   
“ Why do you say so, Kagami kun?” I ask in wonder.  
Kagami leans back in his chair as a couple girls pass by us. When he is sure that they hadn’t recognised him, his eyes flicker back to mine. It’s only times like these, serious times that Kagami is able to hold my gaze.  
“ It’s just a feeling,” he says, scratching his neck. He pauses to think. “ You could say it’s cause… I know you really well?”  
My eyes flutter shut and I smile.   
“ You’re the only person I can’t seem to fool, Kagami kun,” I tell him. My fingers tighten around the plastic cup. “ Until I met him, anyway.”  
I don’t say anything and pick up my milkshake in silence. His words run through my mind. You like me, Tetsuya. I can see right through you, Tetsuya….It’s hard to tell whether this gnawing feeling I feel is because I’m bothered by how Akashi states this, states my feelings like another fleeting fact, like the weather, or if it’s because of how it completely doesn’t faze him that I am afraid.  
Afraid of what though?  
What do I have to lose?

Kagami nods thoughtfully and crosses his arms.   
“ You like him,” he says simply. 

You like me, Tetsuya.

My heart lurches in response.   
“…yes,” I reply.   
The question is….  
“ How much do you like him?” Kagami questions.   
And the answer that surfaces in my consciousness is the answer to the question I’ve been asking myself all this time. 

 

What do I have to lose?  
I could lose him.   
And what if I lose him? What of it? I would go back to my life before I met him, before any of this happened. Why should it matter if I lose him?

 

Because I like him a lot more than I had realised. 

 

“ A lot,” my voice comes out a distant whisper. “ I like him a lot. He’s quite cold. He’s calculative. He cares about his assets, his family name and his success more than he’ll ever care about anything. He’s got me wrapped around his finger and strings me along constantly. But…”  
“ But?”  
I pause and take a deep breath.  
“I think about him all the time. He’s always on my mind. He challenges me. He makes me do things I wouldn’t normally do. He makes me feel….things I can’t even begin to explain.”  
The sun has completely set now. Kagami has his warm red eyes on my face and lets out a breath.   
“ So? What’s the problem then?”  
I blink.   
“ U-um..well, Akashi kun is very focused on his career, and he would never do anything to taint his family name. And he would never commit to someone he doesn’t see himself having a future with—-“  
Kagami snorts and smacks my head playfully.   
“ You know what you call what you’re doing right now, Kuroko?” He asks me. He doesn't wait for a response and continues speaking. “ It’s called making excuses for yourself. You’re scared that it might not work out with him, so you’d rather not try at all. You’re running away from your feelings.”  
I want to tell him otherwise. I want to tell him that it’s a lot more complicated than that, and that he would understand why I am so hesitant if he knew how Akashi Seijuro is.   
But I can’t.   
Because he’s right.   
I lied to Akashi when he asked if I liked him because I was afraid that he would push me away if I had said yes. Or if he didn’t and we started dating, he would eventually push me away in order to protect his family’s namesake, and it would just hurt a whole lot more.   
In the end, I was just a complete coward unwilling to let go of my quiet and carefree world to face my own feelings.  
How utterly pathetic and childish.  
“ Is that Taiga Kagami the basketball player?” I hear someone whisper from the table next to us.   
“ It is, isn’t it?”  
I prod at Kagami’s hand.   
“ Kagami kun, it’s time to go,” I say quietly.   
Kagami stands up without a word and follows me out before more people could notice him. 

 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

As the grand hotel we were both staying at came to view, I let out a long breath. What a day, I think as I tighten my arms around Kagami’s waist as he turns on the curb. Kagami hits the brakes and we stop before the huge revolving doors.   
“ We’re here.”  
I hop off the back of his bike.   
“ A lot better than the first time, huh?” He nods at the bike with a grin.   
I shrug, “ it’s still not my most preferred method of transport,” I say.   
“ You ungrateful bastard. I should have left you at the McDonalds to walk back.”  
“ Ah…that would be a mean thing to do, Kagami kun.”  
Kagami pauses before the door and looks down at me.   
“ Speaking of that, how are Kise and Aomine? Did you ever find him?”   
I groan quietly at the thought of those two idiots.   
“ Please don’t remind me of them, Kagami kun,” I say with a shiver. “ They’re a mess on a whole other level.”  
“ Huh? Seriously? It’s a good thing I’m not there to experience it then. Sorry man, but you’ll have to deal with them on your own,” Kagami tells me in a very unapologetic tone.   
I give him a knowing look.  
“ Right. I can tell you’re sincerely sorry——“

“ Tetsuya.”

 

His voice resonates in the grand hall, sharp and court. Slowly, I turn around to find Akashi striding towards me in a hurried fashion, his hair disheveled and eyes wide. Almost frantic. He had his phone gripped tightly in his hand, resonating a dangerously angry aura. As he approaches me, his mix matched eyes do a quick head to toe evaluation of me, and he relaxes. His eyes then drift to the tall figure beside me and they narrow, the tension returning to his posture.   
Akashi clears his throat and stuffs his phone back into his pocket.   
“ Tetsuya,” he repeats in a flat tone. “ You weren’t in your room. I thought I told you not to leave.”  
His voice comes out controlled in that perfectly refined manner of his. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination when I heard the slight tremor in his voice.   
I dip my head in an apologetic bow. “ I am sorry, Akashi kun. I only wanted to call you since I accidentally left my cell phone and wallet on our car, but ah…” I drift off and search for the right words to use.   
“ He ran into me,” Kagami finishes for me. “ I dragged him off, so it wasn’t really his fault.”  
I glance up at Kagami with a grateful little smile.   
“ Oh..?”  
I pause at the sudden coldness in Akashi’s voice.   
“ Kagami Taiga, if I am correct?”  
Kagami nods in response. “ Well, my point is, don’t blame this guy. He managed to spend fifty dollars at McDonalds, he must have been pretty damn hungry.”  
“ Ah, Akashi kun,” I pipe up, recalling that I needed to repay kagami his money, “ Do you have my wallet—“  
“ I will pay you double the money he spent,” Akashi interrupts.   
I swing my gaze towards Akashi in bewilderment and Kagami does the same. After an awkward pause, Kagami laughs.   
“ It’s okay… He’s my friend.”  
Akashi clenches his jaw, “ And he’s my…” He trails off, as if catching himself and offers a cold smile. “ He’s my subordinate. He’s my responsibility.”  
I glance at Akashi one last time, before turning towards Kagami.   
“ Kagami kun, I will pay you back. Don’t mind Akashi kun, I’m sure he’s had a rough night—“  
I pause as Kagami ruffles my hair, not in a cute way, but in a way where I wasn’t sure if he was being friendly, or if he was attacking me.   
“ Oi, idiot,” he says in a bored tone. “ I owed you a lot of meals back in high school, so it’s alright, okay? You don’t have to get all formal on me.”  
I sigh and smile. “ You did owe me a lot of money, actually. You should treat me again sometime.”  
In the corner of my eye, I see Akashi narrow his eyes again as he crosses his arms.   
Kagami snorts, and turns to leave. “ Don’t kid yourself now, Kuroko. Well, I’ll see you around.”  
He waves over his shoulder and makes his way to the elevator.   
I turn to face Akashi. He stares at me for a long time without saying a word and I squirm, a little uncomfortable.   
“ Um, how did your personal business go?” I ask carefully.   
Akashi tilts his chin and glares at me. “ Well, didn’t you have fun today,” he sneers, ignoring my question. “ Need I remind you that I brought you here on business, not so you can go play around with your ex boyfriend.”  
I bristle at his words. “ Akashi kun, I already apologised for disobeying your commands. And you were the one who left me here anyway.”  
“ I did not leave you here so you could go off without even a word of where you’ve gone, or when you’ll be back,Tetsuya,” he snaps.   
I fall back in realisation. I glance outside at the dark skies, and the foreign streets.  
“ I apologise if I worried you, Akashi kun, but Kagami kun is familiar with this place. There is nothing to worry about. ”  
He blinks and suddenly, he takes a step towards me, much too close for my liking.   
“ When you said you didn’t have feelings for me,” Akashi says in a low voice, “ were you speaking the truth?”  
My heart stutters and I gulp, my mouth running dry.   
“ I…am not obliged to tell you.”  
I didn’t want to lie and say no after my conversation with Kagami today. I didn’t want to run away anymore, and yet at the same time, I didn’t want to step forward. Not when the ending to our story was so obviously a good bye.   
Akashi takes a step back and crosses his arms.   
“ you’re so insufferably stubborn, Tetsuya.”  
“ I could say the same about Akashi kun.”  
Akashi sighs and walks off without another word. He pauses a few feet away from me, turns around and scowls.   
“ And just so you know, Tetsuya,” he says, “ I was not worried about you, I was simply agitated that you dared to disobey me. Again. That is all.”  
And then he whirls around and walks off once again.   
You have strange taste in men, Kuroko, I think to myself with a shake of my head.   
As I walk pass the receptionist’s desk, I hear a cry of relief.   
“ Oh! Goodness!” The receptionist lady says in English.   
“ Um…”  
“ Thank goodness you’re okay! Your boss was frantic when he discovered that you weren’t in the hotel. You must mean a whole damn lot to him, cause I’ve never seen Mr Akashi look so…not okay, you know? He demanded us to help find you, and said he would sue us if we’d lost you. He was really worried about you,” she says in a light breathy voice.   
To be honest, I didn’t understand a word of what she had said. I picked up a couple familiar words here and there, but I smiled and thanked her anyway. I then walked to my room, wondering what in the world she had said. 

 

 

The next day goes by in a whirlwind of documents, contracts, and meetings.

Akashi and I watched as Ms. Alexandra Garcia walked down the aisle in a slow fashion, stepping to the beat of the Wedding March. Her long blonde hair was hidden under her long satin train, which blended in nicely with her lacy white strapless dress.  
She looked quite beautiful.   
“ I’ve always detested weddings,” Akashi murmured beside me.   
I glanced over at him in his dark grey suit, black dress shirt, and black tie ensemble. Akashi sat with his legs crossed and his eyes trained on Alexandra, a cool smile on his face.   
I tug on the hem of my dress shirt in frustration. I borrowed one of Akashi’s ensembles since I didn’t own any fancy tuxedos or suits. Surprisingly, Akashi’s clothes were still too big on me, even though we looked quite similar in build. That certainly doesn’t help my self esteem in any way.  
“ Why do you dislike weddings?” I ask absent-mindedly.  
Akashi doesn’t answer for a moment and continues to watch Alexandra. Then he shrugs and smirks, eyes flickering to mine playfully.   
“ It’s that dreaded song,” he says. “ It gets stuck in your head.”

 

 

“ Will you, Alexandra Garcia take Oliver Rivers as your lawfully wedded husband?”  
I hear her say the two words and everyone cheer as the pastor announces, “ you may kiss the bride!”  
I turn around to tell Akashi that it’s over, and that we can go wish them good luck and leave, but instead, I find an empty seat beside me. I blink in confusion. How in the world did Akashi manage to leave without my noticing?  
I shake my head with a sigh as I stand up to go find him. I automatically assume that he’s gone to the restroom and head around the corner of the dark corridor, eyes trained on the bright W.C. sign ahead of me.   
A hand shoots out and clamps around my forearm. The stranger tugs and I get hauled around the corner, falling against a very familiar chest. A rush of deja vu sweeps across me as I realise that this was how we first met.   
“ Who,” Akashi purrs seductively in my ear, " are you?"  
I swallow, and let out a shaking breath before playing along.   
“ Obviously not you were waiting for,” I say, repeating the words from that night.  
Akashi chuckles and pulls me in closer, tighter to his body.   
“ But you’re exactly who I was waiting for,” he says, his fingers trailing across the arch of my brow bone and the slight arch of my cheek bones.   
“ You were supposed to say ‘ you’re a sharp one.’”   
“ Actually, the exact words I said were ‘ you’re a quick one,’” Akashi corrects me.   
I pause and let the silence fill the space between us. “ what are we doing right now, Akashi kun?”  
Akashi leans down so that his face was just half an inch from mine, his breath cool before, now warm against my skin. The low light hit the planes of his face in a way that made him look like a dangerously beautiful demon of some sort, his one golden eye gleaming under the light.   
“ I’ve never had to try so hard to win someone over,” he murmurs. “ Neither have I ever wanted something so badly, that it almost consumes me.”  
I shiver, “ wha…what do you want, Akashi kun?”  
The answer is immediate.   
“ I want you.”  
“ You …want me?”  
“ I want you, Kuroko Tetsuya. I thought I’ve made myself clear enough on that matter,” Akashi says in a low voice. I feel his lips gaze my cheeks. “ But, I’ll stop for good this time if this truly isn’t what you want.”  
I say nothing as Akashi's overwhelming presence consumes me.   
" Although I will not lie to you, Tetsuya," Akashi murmurs against my skin, " staying away from you will be a torturous task for me."  
I can’t breathe as his other hand finds mine and curls around them.   
Akashi pauses dramatically, and smirks down at me, eyes piercing with more intensity than ever.   
“ So tell me….Tetsuya,” he says. “ What do you want?”  
And then my mind runs wild, a thousand different voices telling me, commanding me against what I’m about to do. A thousand different scenarios play inside my head, displaying Akashi leaving me in the future, leaving me for his world, the world in which he belonged to. Does he just want to have sex with me? Does he even like me? A thousand reasons for me to push him away.   
But all I can hear is his anticipating breath, quickened in anxiety. All I can see are his eyes, locked on mine, waiting for my answer. His arrogant and cold smirk that I can’t imagine on anyone else other than him. A thousand reasons against one. It’s a wager where all the odds are betted against me, and I am about to go all in. 

 

“ You’re making excuses..running away.”  
Kagami’s voice replays inside my head. 

“ What…” Akashi repeats, “ do you want….Tetsuya?”

 

I’m all in. 

 

I grab his black tie, not caring how much money he paid for it and yank down, pulling him down to a heated kiss. Our lips mould against each other hungrily, and suddenly we’re a frenzy of fingers running through hair, hands feeling every single inch of each other. Like we can’t get enough. I know I can’t.   
His lips moves on towards my neck—-he rips my tie off my neck without a care, and then his lips move to my collar bone before travelling back to fit against my mouth.   
My heart races in my chest and my breath hitches like I’ve just run ten miles. Our lips part and I grin, regretting nothing. 

 

“ This,” I answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well well   
> Tetsuya finally caves in to the sexiness of Akashi. Can't really blame him tho. What will become of them now?  
> Till next time my friends :3


	15. Aominecchi

There are two things Kise finds impossibly annoying to him.  
Numer one: Aomine.  
Number two: Aomine dressed in a suit looking fine as hell. 

Kise frowns as he lets Aomine in reluctantly. It had taken a while to get used to the idea that Aomine wasn’t going anywhere no matter what he does or says…or threatens him with.  
“ You’re wearing a suit,” Kise states flatly, observing how the black on black on black ensemble suited Aomine so very much, and how the fabric basically clung to his tight ass——  
Kise tears his eyes away from the tall blunnette and clears his throat.  
“ Why are you wearing a suit?” He repeats.  
Aomine leans against the door casually and shrugs. “ Your manager said to wear one. Said it was the ‘ appropriate dress code’ for a formal press conference on the release of your new movie.”  
Kise scoffs, “ He’s the one who usually comes to these events dressed in a t shirt and jeans. Appropriate dress code my ass.”  
Aomine grins and leans into Kise, “ I look good though, don’t I? Come on, don’t lie here, Kise.”  
Kise takes a step back for good measures.  
“ You look okay,” he clarifies, “ but I don’t get how you can be my body guard if it looks like you can barely move in those pants.”  
“ You’d be surprised,” Aomine says with a grin, “ they’re stretchy.”

 

 

It wasn’t as if Kise was nervous or anything. It wasn’t like that at all.  
He fingers clench around the hem of his sleeves as their car pulls up around the huge building, A.S. It’s slightly comforting that the press conference for his movie is to be done here, a place Kise is familiar with. He hopes that Kuroko is going to be there. His presence would be comforting to him, but unfortunately, his Kurokocchi was away on a business trip with Akashi, leaving Kise all alone with this idiot. Kise glances at Aomine from the corner of his eye. Aomine was slouched in his seat, eyes trained the building they were approaching.  
Kise bites his lip in frustration.  
It’s driving him crazy, having Aomine there beside him. Kise had originally assumed that after making such a bold statement like “ I’ll make you fall in love with me again,” the guy would do something. Anything. Kise assumed that he would have to be fending off advances every minute of everyday, and yet….  
Kise stares at the slacked, carefree posture of Aomine’s body. He hasn’t done anything. He narrows his eyes. This constant wariness is tiring him out.  
What in the world does this guy have planned?  
Kise glances away from the source of his headaches and clears his throat.  
“ You’re going to be back stage,” Kise announces, fingers reaching up to comb through his shiny blonde hair which he had gotten blown out just this morning. “ You actually won’t have much to do today, since this is a press conference after all. No one’s going to jump me or anything, so just stand by.”  
“ You look nervous,” Aomine states. 

Kise whips his head around to glare at his tanned body guard.  
“ I’m not nervous, idiot. I’ve done things like this all the time.”  
Aomine lifts his hands as if in surrender. “ You’re so snappy and cold,” he complains, “ you used to be so nice and stuff. Kinda cuddly too.”  
Kise’s jaw drops. “ When in the hell was I ever cuddly?” He demands.  
Aomine shrugs nonchalantly. “ Well not cuddly in the literal sense, but you gave me that feeling, ya know?”  
Kise huffs, and turns away from him. “ That’s stupid.”  
“ You’re stupid.”  
Kise’s eyes widens, and he turns to Aomine incredulously. “ You’re calling me stupid? You of all people are calling me stupid?”  
Aomine grins and leans forward, “ hey, remember when I did better than you on that language exam?”  
Kise throws up his hands in exasperation. “ Oh my god, Aomine. You did not do better than me on that language exam. And why do you still remember that after so many freaking years, when you can’t remember so many more relevant things?”  
Aomine snorts. “ You're kidding yourself. I definitely did better than you on that test. It was the highest I’ve ever gotten.”  
“ yeah? What did you get?”  
“ Forty eight,” the answer came confidently and surely. “ First time I almost passed that stupid thing.”  
Now normally, Kise would scoff and question how exactly forty eight is a score to be proud of. Especially if that’s a record score of all things. But this was Aomine they were talking about here. And for Aomine, that is very, very impressive.  
“ Wow,” Kise blinks, genuinely surprised. “ Thats…that’s actually really good…for you, but that’s still really good.”  
“ Told ya.”  
“ But how unfortunate for you,” Kise says sadistically with a small shrug, “ I still did better than you. I remember I got seventy something.”  
“ Yeah right, you probably got 57 and remembered it as 75.”  
“ Hey! I have a brilliant memory, you asshole.”  
A bubble of laughter escapes Kise’s lips when Aomine turns to glare at the blonde. Slowly, Aomine’s glare falls into a playful grin as well and the two are just grinning at each other stupidly.  
This is a nice change, Kise thinks, it’s almost like old times——  
and then his smile dissipates almost immediately as he turns away from the grinning blunnette with a frown. He curses under his breath as he wonders how and why in the hell he would ever let himself fall back into old habits with Aomine Daiki.  
“ Hey,” Aomine interrupts his thoughts. kise glances at the tanned body guard beside him with a fleeting glance.  
“ what?”  
Aomine shifts so that his head was rested on his hand as he stares intently at the blonde before him.  
“ You’re not nervous anymore, are you?”  
Kise blinks and stares at Aomine blankly. He wasn’t. Not anymore.  
Kise had always thought that only Kuroko could miraculously make him feel comfortable, but….  
Kise tears his eyes away from Aomine in frustration.  
God dammit, he was letting it happen again. He was letting Aomine in, when all he wanted was to shut him out.  
Kise runs a hand through his hair again and mutters a quick “ I’m fine. I’m going to go get my hair and make up done.”  
“ Hey Kise,” Aomine says.  
Kise’s hand pauses against the door handle.  
“ You’ll do great,” Aomine says simply.  
Ignoring the fluttering inside his heart, the fluttering that wasn’t at all the same nervousness from earlier, Kise pushes the door open and steps out, casting Aomine a small smile.  
“ Of course,” Kise answers. “ I have millions of adoring fans, you know?”

 

 

 

When Kise first laid his eyes upon the tall and tanned basketball ace, they were still in the second year of middle school. At that time, Kise was still an egotistical teenager in the full bloom of his adolescence. Kise had always believed that there was simply nothing he couldn’t perfect. Nothing he couldn’t do. Maybe that was why when he first witnessed Aomine Daiki doing a dunk with his long body stretched out, forehead glistening with sweat that somehow sparkled under the warm sunlight of spring, he immediately knew.   
This person would be his rival.  
So Kise joined the basketball team the very next day.  
As Kise spent everyday in the midst of shoes screeching against courts, his rivalry with Aomine gradually grew into friendship. Everyday, more and more girls would gather at their practices to watch Kise play. Everyday, more and more girls would confess their love to Kise.  
“ I’m sorry,” Kise would say every time with an apologetic smile, “ but between basketball, school, and modelling, I’m afraid I just don’t have time to date.”  
Aomine would roll his eyes as Kise comes back to the gym looking tired as hell.  
“ That one was definitely cute, Kise. You’re such an idiot, I don’t see what they see in you.”  
Kise would throw his basketball in Aomine’s direction with a laugh.  
“ If you see what they see in me, then we would have a serious problem here, Aominecchi.”  
Aomine would pause to think before laughing along.  
“ You’re right, huh?”  
And then Kuroko would come strolling in looking confused as ever.  
“ I just saw another girl crying. You should stop being such a player, Kise kun.”  
“ Yeah, Kise. Stop being such a player,” Aomine would echo with a grin.  
“ Kurokocchi!” Kise would exclaim and run after the petite blunnette with flailing arms, “ I’m not a player at all! Kurokocchi?”  
That’s how he spent most of his middle school days. 

Kise still remembers the day he fell in love with Aomine Daiki.   
It wasn’t some big event or anything, nor was it any special day. And no the feelings did not hit him like a ten tonne of bricks. If Kise were to describe it, it would be more of a gradual realisation that the feelings he felt for this person was no longer just pure friendship.  
Kise’s love for Aomine actually began in the mens washroom.  
Yes, how romantic right?  
Well, Kise remembers it was during lunch break, and he was in the washroom, well, going to the toilet, and he hears a voice scoff loudly.  
“ Man! I fucking hate that Kise Ryouta bastard.”  
Kise blinks as his name was mentioned.  
“ Tell me about it,” he hears someone else mutter, “ yesterday, my girlfriend dumped me because, and I’m quoting her here, ‘ you’re not as cool as Kise kun.’ How fucking messed up is that?”  
“ What in the fuck is good about him, anyway? What? Just because of that pretty little face of his? You know he always looks at you like you’re something below him, it’s annoying.”  
Well obviously I’ll look at you like that if you’re always here trash talking people, Kise thinks to himself.  
“ He’s a model right? He probably has gotten work done to his face. I hear a lot of people do that nowadays.”  
“ Seriously? What a creep!”  
Well, now Kise was definitely bothered. Say what you want about Kise’ s personality, because Kise admits that he could be quite cynical sometimes, but no one insults his face.  
No one.  
Just as Kise was about to slam the door open and tell those stupid bastards that his face is one hundred percent all natural, he hears someone laugh, guffaw like a madman.  
Kise recognises that voice immediately.  
“ Oh god,” Aomine chokes out in between laughs, “ are you guys serious, here?”  
Kise pauses and listens, curious about what Aomine was about to say.  
“ Who the hell are you?”  
“ I should be asking you that,” Kise hears Aomine say. “ If you guys have time to spend being sour over Kise’s ability to get girls, why don’t you pay more attention to your girlfriends so they don’t get taken away by someone who’s not even interested?”  
“ What? You little shit head—-“  
“ And don’t trash talk Kise like you know him,” Aomine says in a low dangerous tone. “ He’s a better person than you two put together. Now fuck off.”  
Kise hears voices splutter incoherently before one mutters a quiet, “ let’s go.”  
“ Oh, and Kise’s never had any work done to his face! He was born that beautiful, so be jealous you assholes!” he hears Aomine call as they made their exits.  
“ Stupid idiots,” Aomine mutters to no one in particular before leaving himself.  
Kise remembers staying in that stall just thinking until the bell eventually rang. Later that night, while in he shower, an epiphany dawns upon Kise as he realises he might have started feeling differently about his rival and best friend. 

 

 

“ Kise san?” a voice interrupts kise’s dreams as his eyes flutter open.  
He blinks at the friendly face of a technician before him. The lady smiles and offers him a water bottle.  
“ It’s time,” she says.  
Kise remembers that he has a movie press conference to do and sits up, offering the lady a dazzling model smile.  
“ Let’s go.”

 

 

The Press conference starts off well, with the crowd roaring as the MC introduces Kise and his co star. The two sit down and the movie was reintroduced, the highlights of the film playing on the huge screen behind them. Kise smiles and claps when it ends and continues smiling as questions were asked about the whole filming process.  
“ Now a question for Kise san,” a reporter says, “ what struggles did you face, as this was your first time acting in a big budgeted movie?”  
Kise pretends to think for a moment.  
“ Ah, there were many struggles for me,” he says with a small laugh, and relaxes when the audience laughs along with him. “ I think it’s definitely a change from modelling and doing commercials, but I think the main hurdle was how popular the original manga of this movie was. It was difficult becoming this character who is so, in his own way complex.”  
Kise sits back while some reporters quickly wrote down what he had just said.  
“ Another question for Kise san.”  
Kise smiles expectantly.  
“ Now recently, the trending news is that there are speculations regarding your sexual preference. Is it true that you are gay?”  
For a moment, Kise isn’t sure if he heard him right. He blinks as the reporter thrusts his microphone in Kise’s face expectantly, and whispers ensue in the crowd before him. Cameras flashed as Kise stared out into the crowd, not expecting such a question.  
He should have known though. Of course they would take up the opportunity to ask about that.  
He puts on a kind smile.  
“ I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I cannot answer that question as it has nothing to do with the movie.”  
“ Kise kun! Why are you not answering the question? Are the rumours true then?”  
“ Kise san, do you feel as if you have deceived all your fans who love you with all their heart?”  
“ Kise san! A word about—“  
“ As a man who prefers other man, did you have troubles with intimate scenes with miss—-“  
“ Kise san! What do you have to say to your parents, do they know of this?”  
Kise feels his heart beat increase and anxiety ensue in the pits of his stomach as more and more voices were raised in the crowd. His co star turns to gaze at him sympathetically.  
“ Kise kun,” she murmurs, “ are you alright? Do you wan’t to end this sooner—“  
“ It’s okay,” Kise murmurs back.  
He stands up, ready to tell everyone off, to handle things. Maybe tell the truth, and put an end to things. But before he could open his mouth, he feels a hand wrap itself around his wrist and shove him aside.  
Kise stares at Aomine who’s stepped out from backstage, like he completely was not supposed to do.  
Aomine glares at the crowd before him and takes one of the reporter’s microphones.  
“ Hello? Is this thing on?” He pauses as there’s feed back, “ this is on right?”  
Kise wants to pull all his beautiful hair out as he grabs Aomine’s arm and yank him harshly.  
“ What, in the fuck,” he hisses into Aomine’s ear, “ do you think you’re doing?”  
“ Doing my job,” Aomine snaps back and shoves Kise off.  
“ Yeah, my name is Aomine Daiki and I’m Kise Ryouta’s body guard,” he begins. Immediately, more microphones and recorders and thrusted in front of Aomine’s face.  
Aomine scowls. “ Oi, get those things out of my face.”  
Kise wants to die.  
Or Aomine could die.  
Yeah, that sounds better.  
“ Yeah, anyways. All those of you who criticise Kise Ryouta for his personal life are dip shits.”  
There is a huge roar of objection in the crowd as many shout for the strange man to get off the stage.  
“ He works harder than anyone!” Aomine insists, “ and if you’re not interviewing him about that, about how hard he works to make movies that you people watch, then you’re all fucking crazy. Who cares what or who he likes? Does it make him a better model or actor if he likes pepsi instead of coca cola? Yeah exactly. Think about that, why don’t you.”  
There is a silence and Kise just stares at Aomine. The first time Aomine defended him it was in a school washroom, the second time, it’s in front of dozens of news stations that millions of people are probably going to watch.  
He’s definitely stupid.  
Stupid and dim witted….  
But.  
Kise can’t help but smile as Aomine turns to him with a scowl.  
“ Do you think I’ll get arrested for this?”

 

 

 

“ Thank god,” Aomine says with a tired groan. “ I thought I was definitely gonna get arrested for that. Can you imagine what my co workers would say if they showed up to arrest me of all people?”  
Kise bites back a smile as he tries to maintain a poker face.  
“ Aomine Daiki,” he says in quiet voice.  
“ What?”  
“ What in the hell is actually wrong with you?”  
“ Hah? what are you talking about?”  
“ You just told about a dozen news stations that they’re ‘ fucking crazy.’”  
“ Oh, that,” Aomine says as he relaxes. He shrugs and grins at Kise, “ I know it’s hard to believe, but I’ve done worse.”  
“ No. Unfortunately, I do believe you,” Kise says with a sigh. “ What I don’t believe is how in the hell you’re a cop.”  
“ Yeah, I get confused about that sometimes, too.”  
Kise bites his lip. “ Look,” he says with a huff. “ I…owe you one okay?”  
More than one actually.  
“ So what do you want?”  
Aomine stares at him for a long moment, and for a second, Kise wonders if he’s made a horrible mistake. Knowing Aomine, he would probably say something like “ let’s fuck,” or something along those lines.  
“ How about something kinky—“ Aomine starts to say.  
See?  
“ No.”  
“ Role play——?”  
“ No way in hell.”  
“ Fine, fine,” Aomine laughs. “ I wan’t you to call me the way you used to. From now on.”  
Surprise flickers across Kise’s golden eyes as he takes in the sincerity upon Aomine’s face.  
For a second, Kise forgets to breathe. Aomine’s eyes are intense as he manages to capture Kise’s gaze and hold him prisoner there.  
“….no.”  
Aomine frowns. “ Oi, Kise. You said anything.”  
“ Yeah, well, I was thinking more on the lines of shoes or something, you know?”  
Aomine snorts. “ Forget it.”  
There is a silence for a long moment and Kise closes his eyes.  
“ Thank you for today,” he murmurs, then pauses to clear his throat. “….Aominecchi.”  
There is another silence, and Kise wonders if he had spoken too softly, but then he sees the happy curve of Aomine’s mouth signifying otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This totally has nothing to do with the story, but I've just discovered the greatest and most beautiful anime of all time. If any of you haven't watched Shiatsu wa Kimi no Uso, then WATCH IT.  
> If you have, and you also have many many feelings about it, feel free to share them with me.  
> TT.TT  
> Thanks for all the support guys! :DD  
> much love <3


	16. Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys :D  
> long ass chapter this week (y)   
> Enjoy!

The first thing I am aware of when the soft morning light wakes me from my light lulling sleep, are a pair of cat like eyes. I’ve come to love these mix matched eyes before me, and I feel my lips curve upwards automatically, taking in the beautiful aristocratic face of Akashi Seijuro. Unlike the first time we slept together, I remember every single touch, every single kiss shared between us.   
I feel my heart beat quicken in response.   
Akashi blinks and his eyes trail over every feature of my face, stopping on my now widened eyes.   
He smirks and I feel his hand curl around mine under the white linen sheets covering our unclothed bodies.   
My face heats up as he pulls me closer, an arm going around my waist, locking me in place.   
“ You can’t possibly be embarrassed Tetsuya?” Akashi murmurs, eyes downcast on my face. “ Not after last night.”  
“ Last night was good,” I say.   
Akashi raises an eyebrow. “ Just good?”  
“…perfect,” I correct quietly, shutting my eyes with a reluctant sigh.   
I feel Akashi’s chuckle vibrate through his chest as I rested my face against it, a small smile on my face.   
“ Ah,” I say with a sigh, “ I ended up sleeping with my boss. Again. That can never turn out well, can it?”  
Akashi lifts my head and locks his eyes on mine. “ Not if said boss is me, of course.”  
I wrinkle my nose. “ Akashi kun is too full of himself.”  
“ You like how I am ‘ too full of myself,’ don’t you, Tetsuya?” Akashi questions. He is quiet as he waits for my response. I pause and consider this for a moment.   
“ I don’t think your arrogance is what I like about you, Akashi kun,” I say with a little laugh.   
“ So you do like me then?” There is a teasing edge to Akashi’s voice.   
“ I do,” I say with a sigh. No point in denying that now, given the position we were in. Besides I had already betted all in when I kissed Akashi in that corridor last night at the wedding.   
Akashi shifts so that he’s hovering above me, arms caging me in, trapping me there.   
“ I want to hear you say it,” he purrs, his eyes flashing with excitement.  
“ You already know it, Akashi kun.”  
“ I don’t care.”  
He leans closer till his lips were touching the tip of my nose. I turn away, my heart slamming into my ribcage as my breath hitches.   
“ Three words, Tetsuya.”  
As he leans even closer, my will power completely crumbles and I sigh.   
“ I like you, Akashi kun,” I say.   
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi says, “ if you say it in monotone, it’s not going to make me feel anything. Can’t you put a little emotion behind your words?”  
My mouth pops open, and I gape at him wordlessly.  
“ I take it back then,” I say, trying uselessly to push him off of me.   
A sly glint sparks in Akashi’s red and golden eyes and he leans in to whisper in my ear.   
“ You are forbidden to take it back.”  
And then he kisses me, and my mind once again turns to a jumble of incoherent words that make absolutely no sense. It wasn’t a hungry kiss like all our other hurried ones, filled with lust and desire. This time, he kisses me slowly and softly, like we had all the time in the world.   
Almost in a teasing way, as if he knows that he’s got me wrapped around his finger.   
And he completely does.   
I let out a shaky sigh as I feel the corner of his lips curve up against the sides of my mouth.   
“ I like this,” Akashi murmurs, his lips brushing my cheeks.   
His eyes drift downwards to meet mine, a soft smile playing on his lips. “ I could stay like this forever…”  
“ That almost sounds like a marriage proposal,” I say in wonder.   
Akashi laughs. “ Tetsuya,” he muses, “ don’t tell me you wish for me to propose to you so soon?”  
I snort softly, turning my head away again.   
“ I do not.”  
But then his words run through my mind again and again, like a record stuck on repeat. 

“ Don’t tell me you wish for me to propose to you so soon?”

What does that mean? Does that mean that this is—we’re serious? He’s serious about me? Or was it just another impromptu line of his, meant to completely jolt my heart and screw up my head?  
I shake my head.   
No. The whole point of going all in is to not think too much. And right now, I was definitely thinking too much.   
My train of thought is interrupted by Akashi’s phone buzzing. He reaches for it with a sigh and releases me from his grasp. I roll to my side and watch as Akashi sits up to answer the phone.   
“ What is it?” He says in a clipped tone. Akashi listens as the person on the other line speaks. He then turns to me and motions for his laptop.   
I hand it to him and he turns it on, typing something quickly and enlarges the screen so we could both watch.   
I realise it’s a report about Kise’s press conference.   
“ He did what?” Akashi hisses. “ Who in the world allowed for him to get on stage in the first place?”  
We both watch as Kise is bombarded with questions, before Aomine shoots out from back stage to rescue Kise who looks as if he’s about to implode on himself.   
“ Oh Aomine kun,” I whisper in soft horror as I listen to his speech. My lips curve up at the part where he calls the entire nation “ fucking crazy.”  
Truth be told, I was a little proud. Embarrassed he’s my friend, but also proud.   
“ Were there any substantial losses to our project?…Okay, that’s good… Yes, I will see you later.”  
He turns to me with a small grimace.  
“ Your idiotic best friend has really done it this time, Tetsuya,” Akashi says. “ I am not sure if I am amazed or just completely stunned.”  
“ Why?”  
“ Apparently some people found his act the other day extremely courageous, and are writing about the endearing friendship between actor model Kise Ryouta and his mysterious trusty blue haired body guard,” Akashi tells me. “ Some even want interviews with the two of them.”  
I widen my eyes in surprise. Well I’ll be. I lower my gaze thoughtfully.   
“ I guess this means they’re patching things up again,” I murmur to myself.   
Akashi shakes his head, a pleasing smile upon his face. “ You don’t understand, Tetsuya,” he tells me, “ the important thing is, Kise Ryouta’s sexuality is no longer the hottest topic of the season. His life is going to be a lot quieter for just a little while. Until people remember again, of course.”  
“ Is it like that for you too? Do you…is your dad aware of your……?”  
I motion to us.  
Akashi turns quiet all of a sudden, and lays his piercing gaze upon me, once again doing some full analysis I did not understand. Something flashes in his eyes, as if he had recalled something he did not want to remember, but it leaves as quickly as it comes. Slowly, the corner of his lip turns up.   
“ This may come as a surprise, Tetsuya,” he murmurs in an amused tone, “ but I’ve actually always preferred women.”  
As I let this sink in, I feel my jaw drop in complete shock.   
What? He just said he—-but….what?  
Akashi chuckles at my flabbergasted expression and strokes the side of my face. I shiver as I feel his fingers trail along against my skin, leaving goosebumps behind.   
“ You…were different,” he explains with a small smile.   
I feel my heartbeat quicken once again. Sometimes I feel as though my heart gets more exercise when I’m around Akashi than during practice back in high school.  
“ Good different or bad different?” I breathe.   
He leans in to plant soft kisses along my jaw line, fingers reaching to entangle in my hair.   
“ Mmn,” he murmurs, and I feel the corner of his mouth curve up against the soft pillowing of my lips. “ Definitely good different.”  
I lean in to kiss him at that, enjoying the sweet taste of his lips on mine, moving so effortlessly natural. It was amazing how right this felt. So right that I was certain I had made the right decision.  
I sigh as I part my lips.   
“ So I’ve been pining after a straight man for this entire time?” I say almost to myself.   
Akashi’s eyes twinkle in amusement. “ And what of it?”  
I frown a little as he takes hold of my hand again, drawing little circles on my palm. “ They say it’s never a good idea to be with straight men.”  
“ Oh?” Akashi murmurs, lifting a brow, “ and why is that?”  
I pause before I glance up and offer him a small rueful smile.  
“ Because they always end up leaving you behind.”

 

 

On our way to the main entrance where Akashi’s car was waiting for us, I bump into Kagami again. He stands slouched against the wall beside the elevator door with one hand in his pocket and the other repeatedly hitting the down button. He notices us approaching and straightens up, his sunny grin working it’s way upon his face.  
“ Hey Kuroko,” he says with a wave of his hand. His eyes flicker to Akashi who walked a step ahead of me as usual, and he pauses for a moment. He’s probably forgotten Akashi’s name already. “…and A..kashi.”  
His eyes travel back to me, and I see the question in them. ‘Is that right?’ They were saying. I nod, and he blinks back in response.  
I feel my lips curve upwards a little in response, and Akashi stiffens at our unspoken interaction as the air turns cold.   
“ Kagami kun,” I say pleasantly.   
“ Kagami Taiga,” Akashi greets curtly, crossing his arms over his chest. He sharp eyes travel up and down Kagami in a scrutinising way, as if he were some sort of human analyser. Although I wouldn’t be very surprised if he were.   
“ Are you guys going back to Japan now?” Kagami asks.   
“ Ah, yes,” I reply. “ It was really good seeing you again though, Kagami kun. Thank you once again for treating me to the meal.”  
Kagami grins and stretches out to set his huge palm on my teal blue head. “ Oi, stop being all weirdly polite with me, would you Kuroko? It’s creepy.”  
“ I am always polite.”  
He seriously has a strange way of ruffling people’s hair. Or maybe it’s just me that he does this to. I frown and as I am about to playfully slap his hand away as usual, a hand shoots out and grabs Kagami’s outstretched arm. A pair of heterochromatic eyes flash coldly, and Akashi steps in between us, shielding me protectively.   
“ I would advise you not to touch him so casually, Kagami Taiga,” Akashi says evenly, although his voice has a sharp edge at the end, a breakage to his perfectly cool facade.   
For a moment Kagami looks taken aback, just as I am, before he slowly lowers his hand. He stuffs them back into his pocket as his peculiar forked eyebrows knit together.   
“ Kuroko’s my friend,” he argues, “ this is how it’s always been.”  
I notice that despite saying that, he’s already taken a step back away from me and his eyes flicker to Akashi warily. Despite being a tall and strongly built man twice the size of Akashi, Kagami still somehow seems smaller in comparison.  
“ Akashi kun,” I murmur with a frown.  
Akashi’s eyes flicker to me and they rest there for a moment before he sighs.   
“ Say your good byes then, if you must,” he says briskly. “ I will be waiting for you in the lobby, Tetsuya. Do not keep me waiting long.”  
I nod quietly and watch as the doors close on Akashi’s aristocratic features. His eyes were ice cold. I shiver, he’s definitely mad.   
“ Oi, oi, Kuroko,” Kagami blurts, “ what in the world do you see in that guy? He’s such an asshole.”  
I laugh and cast my eyes downward. “ To be completely honest, Kagami kun,” I say wistfully, “ I have no idea.”  
I don’t know why I feel so strongly towards Akashi Seijuro, nor do I know how much it would hurt if I was one day left behind. What I do know, is that if I don’t at least try, I’ll spend the next ten years wondering what ifs and what could have beens.   
Kagami stares at me thoughtfully before he sighs.   
“ You’re sure about this?”  
“ I have never been more sure about anything,” I reply.   
“ Then good luck,” Kagami says, a smile setting cross his face. “ By the looks of it, you’ll need it.”

 

 

Akashi Seijuro was not happy when I found him sitting in the back of his car.   
He had his arms crossed over his chest and one leg perched elegantly over his other. As soon as he sees me, his eyes flash as he grabs hold of my wrist and tugs hard. I fall against the leather seats, and I feel Akashi’s cool hands wrap around the back of my neck, pulling me into another kiss. We’ve been doing that a lot today.   
Kissing, I mean.   
“ So slow,” Akashi complains against my lips.  
“ I apologise,” I murmur. “ It’s just that I haven’t seen him in such a long time and—-“  
“ Do not speak of other people when you’re with me, Tetsuya,” Akashi interrupts, casting me a disapproving scowl. “ I dislike it.”  
I roll my eyes as I feel my lips twitch upwards into a small amused smile.   
“ Forgive me if I’m wrong, but are you being jealous right now, Akashi kun?”   
“ Jealous?” Akashi echoes like he’s never heard of the word before, “ do not be absurd, Tetsuya. As if I could feel threatened by Kagami Taiga.”  
I chuckle quietly at how sure of himself Akashi sounds, the tone of royalty lacing his words as usual.   
“ Of course,” I say through muffled laughter at the straight up denial in Akashi’s eyes. “ I was mistaken.”  
Akashi sits back in satisfaction, a pleasing smile on his lips.   
“ Ah…” I say as i pretend to remember something important.  
“ What?”  
“ Oh it’s nothing,” I say in a blasé manner, “ I was just thinking about how Kagami kun might come to Japan next week. Ah…maybe I’ll treat him to dinner like old times?”  
“ I forbid you to do so,” his response came sharp and almost immediately.   
I chuckle to myself as realisation settled into Akashi’s eyes. He narrows them as he regards me.   
“…I never realised you had this side to you, Tetsuya. Are you perhaps a closeted sadist?”   
I’ve only ever been in the closet once, and it wasn’t for being a sadist.   
“ I have no idea what you’re talking about, Akashi kun,” I say innocently.   
Akashi throws one more suspicious look at me before turning away. As I replay Akashi’s eyes flashing in jealousy at my mentioning of Kagami before he fixed his cool composure again, I stifle another laugh.   
“ What is it this time?” He asks exasperatedly.   
“ Nothing,” I laugh, “ I was just thinking that Akashi kun is a lot cuter than he lets on.”

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

A couple of weeks pass after that, and the entire company is in chaos preparing for the launch party of our newest line of phones. I would spend days in a frenzy of phone calls and arranging meetings for Akashi to attend. Sometimes, Akashi went about as if nothing had ever happened between us. He carried his professional attitude as usual, and called me in only for progress reports and the occasional cup of coffee; black and no sugar.  
Sometimes, he would slip up, and I would find his sharp red and gold eyes resting on me during meetings. I would frown and send him a disapproving look.   
Focus on your job, my eyes would tell him.   
And then the corner of his lips would curve up in amusement before the cool and apathetic expression would return as he turns his focus back onto the speaker.   
Sometimes, we would both slip up, and we’d find ourselves tangled with each other in his office. Clothes would be torn off and scattered in an uncaring manner across the floor, and I would wonder what in the hell has become of my carefree life.   
“ My father will be attending the launch party this weekend,” Akashi says one day as we were sitting on his couch. The TV was on, but neither of us were really paying it any attention.   
I shift a little so that I could see his face.   
“ Is that so?” I ask thoughtfully. I reach up to touch the sharp angle of his jawline absent-mindedly.   
“ Are you nervous?”  
Akashi’s fingers reach up to take my hand in his. “ I’ve never been nervous for anything in my life, Tetsuya.”  
“ Akashi kun, you say you never get nervous, you never get jealous, you never fail in anything you do…but only a machine is capable of that, you know?”  
“ Are you saying that I am like a machine then, Tetsuya?”  
I shake my head. “ Of course not,” I say. “ You are a human being. You like to play basketball, you like shogi, you have a strange love for tofu that I do not understand, and you dislike dishonesty more than anything. You too, have feelings, Akashi kun. Like Kise kun, like Aomine kun…like me.”  
Akashi is quiet as he listens.   
“ That’s why,” I tell him with a small smile, “ you don’t have to put up a front with me.”  
For a moment, Akashi is silent and a serendipitous air falls between us. We sit, shoulders touching, his hand wrapped around mine, as we watch a television program neither of us really paid attention to.   
Akashi shifts in his seat as he gets up abruptly. I glance up at him questioningly, and he only smiles a small unreadable smile.   
“ Are you hungry, Tetsuya?” He asks. 

 

“ I had no idea you could cook, Akashi kun,” I say in wonder as I watch Akashi’s knife slice up a carrot at almost lightning speed. Was Akashi intentionally trying to make me fall in love with him? They do say that the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, I think in amusement to myself.   
“ There are many things you do not know about me, Tetsuya,” Akashi says lightly. “ Stop standing there, I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”  
“ Akashi kun sounds like a house wife,” I say jokingly. It comes out sounding not so much like a joke though, due to my monotone voice.   
The knife in Akashi’s hand pauses as he stares at me in an unimpressed manner.   
“ I have a knife in my hand, Tetsuya,” he says pointedly.   
I chuckle and step a good two feet away from him.   
“ And that’s my cue to leave.”

 

 

I find myself in Akashi’s office instead, hands trailing along the spines of all his books. Has he read every single one of these? I wonder to myself. My fingers pause at a pale blue spine that was almost falling apart. As I pull it out and open the covers, I realise that it is an old photo album. The first picture was a tiny boy with the same familiarly shocking red hair and an innocent smile; the kind of smile he never wears anymore.   
More pictures of Akashi as a child; I pause at the one where he is not alone.   
Beside him is a breathtakingly beautiful woman. She was that type of beautiful that you don't really notice at first, but then the more you look at her, the more you find yourself not being able to look away. She had hair that flowed in loose waves past her shoulders and almost to her waist. It was the same bright red as Akashi’s. Her matching scarlet eyes were big and slightly slanted upwards, the only feature that really stood out from her delicately shaped face. Akashi must have gotten his aristocratic bone structure from his father.   
But the eyes, they had the exact same eyes.   
Akashi was smiling a huge and happy smile in this picture, he had his eyes trained on his mother in adoration whilst holding a basketball that looked far too big in comparison to his tiny hands.   
I find myself smiling automatically at this.   
“ You were so happy back then,” I murmured to no one in particular.   
With one last glance at the happy boy holding the basketball, I flip the page. There were some pictures of Akashi in middle school, some of him playing piano. And then I see a picture that makes me suck in a breath of shock. I almost drop the fragile album. 

It’s me. 

I stare at the very last picture in the album for what seemed like forever, but there was no mistaking it.   
The petite boy with his big cerulean blue eyes trained on a certain red haired giant while he dribbled the basketball in his hands…the boy wearing the number eleven jersey of Seirin High school…the boy who never got noticed….  
It’s me.  
“ How?” I mumble, my breath hitching.   
It didn’t make any sense, why does Akashi Seijuro have a picture of me back in high school? This picture must have been taken at least seven years ago, so… how?  
“ Tetsuya!” I hear Akashi call from downstairs.   
I jump and quickly stuff the picture of me in my pocket.   
“ I’m coming,” I say.

 

 

“ Look at this,” I tell Aomine, who was sprawled across our couch, flipping through random channels absent-mindedly as usual.   
I hand him the picture I stole—borrowed, from Akashi. Aomine takes one look at it and gives it back.   
“ Yeah, okay,” Aomine grumbles, “ If I have to say it, I guess you’re okay looking in this picture.”  
I slap the picture across his head playfully, and roll my eyes.   
“ No, Aomine kun,” I say, “ I found this in Akashi kun’s photo album.”  
Aomine’s head pops off the couch as his eyes widen.   
“ Wait—-“ He pauses dramatically, “ Are you two together now?”   
“ We’re—-that’s not the issue here,” I say with a sigh. “ I found this in his photo album.”  
“ Yeah? And?”  
“ This is me,” I explain, “ from back in high school.”  
“…And?”  
There are times when I want to take Aomine by the shoulders and give him a good shake. Or ignite pass him on the head to knock some common sense into him.   
Today is one of those days.   
“ I didn’t know him in high school, Aomine kun. We met less than four months ago.”  
Aomine shrugs. “ The guy is a billionaire CEO of Japan’s leading phone brand, not to mention the heir to the great multi billion Akashi Enterprise. I think he’s capable of getting a photo of you from high school if he wants to.”  
I open my mouth to say something but shut it again.   
“…that…kind of makes sense,” I say reluctantly and in surprise. There are also times when Aomine says something smart and you can’t help but stare at him like some sort of miracle has occurred. Today is also one of those days. I decide to put the picture away. Perhaps I would return it to Akashi’s old photo album the next time I go to visit.  
“ How do you know so much about Akashi kun anyways?”  
He grins. “ Kise tells me stuff sometimes. When he’s not being cold or distant, that is.”  
I nod an understanding nod.   
“ By the way,” Aomine says, tossing me a pale yellow envelope. “ This came in the mail yesterday.”  
“ What is it?”  
I open it to find a wedding invitation.   
“ Coach and Captain are finally getting married?”  
Aomine nods, “ the wedding is in a couple of weeks.”  
“ Th..that’s amazing.”  
“ Not for us,” Aomine points out. “ We’ll be bleeding money getting them gifts and shit.”

 

 

That night, I dreamt the strangest dream.   
I dreamt I was standing in a field that stretched in every direction for miles and miles to come. Suddenly, Akashi appears. His back was facing me, and he starts walking away. I try to call out for him to stop but it’s one of those strange dreams where you can scream as loud as you wish, but your voice is lost in wind.   
And then I start running too. I chase after him, running as fast as I can, but he effortlessly walks farther and farther away…

 

When I enter the company the next morning, I notice something is different right away. Whispers ensue in the air as people talked in hushed voices. Making my way over to Hotaru’s desk, I wave hello.   
“ What’s happening today?” I ask in confusion. “ Why is everyone whispering?”  
She glances around as if someone might hear me, before she motions me forward.   
“ Akashi Seijuro’s father is coming today,” she tells me.   
I blink.   
“ Is that right?”   
She frowns.  
“ But that’s not all,” she tells me.   
“ …It’s not?”  
“ Apparently, he brought Akashi’s fiancee with him.”  
For a moment, her words don’t register in my brain. And then I hear it.   
Fiancee.   
Fiancee.   
Akashi’s fiancee.   
“ Their engagement party is set for two weeks after the launch party on Saturday,” she continues, but I am not listening.   
I find my legs taking a stumbling step forward in shock. Hotaru frowns and she reaches up to steady me.   
“ Whoa, are you okay, Kuroko?”  
I can’t hear her. It’s as if I am under water. I can’t see anything, I can’t hear anything.   
I take another step, and then another.   
And then I start running.  
Just like in my dream.   
“ Kuroko?” I hear hotaru call from behind me, but I ignore her.   
It’s not true, I tell myself. She’s mistaken. There’s no way Akashi could have a fiancee. I was just with him yesterday, he didn't mention a single thing about a fiancee. It must not be true, I think.   
The elevator doors slide open much too slowly. Akashi’s office is just before me, and I sprint, arms stretched out, about to throw open the doors.   
He’s going to be in there, I tell myself. He’s going to be in there waiting for you, and he’s going to smirk that god awful annoying smirk of his and ask you if you were really in such a hurry to see him.   
Everything is going to be okay.   
And then the doors open by themselves and I am left staring at the man I was running for. The man i was running after.   
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi murmurs in a surprised voice.   
“ Akashi kun, I—-“ 

Tell me it’s not true. Tell me I’m just crazy. Tell me they’re all crazy.    
Tell me…tell me you’re not getting married. 

“ Tetsuya,” Akashi interrupts me, his voice low. He motions to the man beside him. “ This is my father.”  
I tear my eyes away from Akashi to look at the man beside him. Akashi’s father was a stern looking man. A man with cold golden eyes that radiated power.   
I was right.   
Akashi takes after his mother.   
“ Hello,” I hear myself say. My voice sounds alien to my own ears.   
“ Tetsuya is my assistant,” Akashi explains smoothly, and it feels like someone has placed a thousand splinters in my heart.  
“ Akashi kun—-“  
“ Hello,” a new voice says in a soft bell like chime.   
Slowly, I turn my head to look at the owner of the new voice.   
She’s beautiful.   
That’s the first thing I notice about her. She carries herself likewise to a princess, or a queen. Her flawless brown curls fall just past her shoulders, as she dips her head in greeting. A powerful and successful woman who must be very much useful to Akashi.   
What a perfect match.   
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi says in that devastatingly beautiful voice of his.   
I turn to him, feeling very faint. My hands are ice cold and I am pretty sure all the blood has drained from my face.   
“ This is Ri Ah, she is a huge shareholder of our company as well as the heiress to the Kim Corporations in Korea. She will be attending the launch party tomorrow night.”  
“ Seijuro, it is improper and rude to not introduce her properly,” Akashi’s father says.   
Akashi glances at his father for a long moment before turning to meet my horrified gaze. For a fleeting moment, I see the regret in his eyes.  
He was sorry.   
And then he straightens up and unclenches his hands.   
“ This is my fiancee, Kim Ri Ah.”   
His voice comes out flat.   
As if he’s rehearsed this many many times.   
And then he smiles a small polite smile at her.   
A small smile belonging to a complete and utter stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry.   
> Please don't hate me and please don't hate Akashi.  
> You all knew angst was coming, haha.   
> Leave a comment down below and tell me what you think :D


	17. Stage two: Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone :)  
> Thank you for all your comments last week! It was fun reading what you all thought.   
> But for now, let the pain continue on...

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump. 

I let out a haggard breath as I dribbled the basketball down the court, my fingers twitching as the familiar feeling of a basketball in my hands returned to me.   
How long has it been since I played basketball? I wonder to myself. 

Not since that day Akashi and I played a game of one on one. 

With a lurch of my heart and a frustrated frown, I approach the hoop. Maybe it’s because of what happened today, or maybe it’s because I’ve completely lost myself, but I ready my muscles and take a huge jump.  
I’ve never attempted an alley loop before.   
It’s not my type of basketball.  
I fall short of the hoop by two centimetres and tumble to the ground in a heap; the ball falls out of my hand, rolling away from my reach.

“ For someone who loves said sport so much, you’re sure horrible at it, Tetsuya,” Akashi’s words echo in my ear like the annoying buzz of a mosquito. 

I get back on my feet. 

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“ This is Kim Ri ah,” Akashi says smoothly, “ my fiancee.”

Tell me it’s not true.   
Tell me you had no choice.   
Tell me everything going to be okay. 

There were a thousand different things I wanted to say to him at that moment. And yet…  
“ Nice to meet you,” I hear myself say instead.   
I dip my head politely in greeting and my vision blurs, my head swims as I stumble forward. I feel Akashi’s hands reach out immediately to steady me.   
It was a strange feeling. It was as if I wasn’t really in control of my body; as if I was detached from it, watching myself from afar.   
“ Tetsuya, are you alright?” I hear Akashi’s alluring voice say to me.   
“ It is rare for Seijuro to acknowledge his assistants,” Akashi’s father tells me. “ You must be a worker of great value.”  
Wrong, I think.   
I hold no tangible value to him at all.   
“ Thank you,” I say in a small voice.   
Akashi turns to his father and his fiancee.   
“ You may head on down to the banquet hall, I will be with you shortly.”  
I nod my farewells as Akashi’s fiancee smiles at me. She seems like a kind person.   
It would be a lot easier to dislike her if she were cold like Akashi sometimes could be.   
And then, I was left alone with him.   
I feel the heavy weight of his eyes upon my face, searching for any sign of emotion. Akashi doesn't say anything as he just watches me carefully.   
He’s waiting for me to say something, I realise.   
He’s waiting for me to ask why, ask how, ask what. He’s waiting for me to confront him.   
But I couldn’t. 

Not today. 

Not now.

“ I’m sorry to ask of this, Akashi kun,” I say quietly, “ but if it’s not too much trouble, I would like to take the day off today. I don’t feel very well.”  
“ Are you sick?” He questions me right away, reaching up to feel my forehead.   
I take a step back, out of his reach as I shake my head.   
“ Not sick,” I say. “ I’m just feeling very tired. That’s all.”  
Even my own voice sounds minuscule to my ears. I can’t even imagine what my face must look like right now. I don’t want to imagine it.   
Akashi stares at me for a long and hard second before he nods.   
“ Alright,” he says. “ Please do show up for launch party tomorrow. You are in charge of picking me up, do not forget.”  
“ Right,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat.   
I dip my head in a respectful bow, something I haven’t done with Akashi in a while now. As I turn around, I feel Akashi’s hand catch mine, and my heart lurches.   
“ Tetsuya, wait,” he says, and leans in, his voice low. “ I’ll come find you tonight.”  
I pause before I untangle my hand from his.   
“ …That will not be necessary,” I say quietly. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump. 

 

The ball bounces from the smooth cement to the palm of my hand. My ears are filled with the sound of my own pants and my rapid heart beat. My legs ache with pain. The sun’s almost setting now, and I slow my steps to a walk. 

“ I want you, Tetsuya.”

With a groan, I throw the basketball with all the force I am able to muster. The ball hits the rim of the hoop and rebounds across the court. 

To my surprise, the emotion I am feeling right now is not at all sadness.   
Im not devastated due to Akashi having a fiancee, and I am not sad.  
Im angry.

Angry at Akashi for not telling me that night we slept together that he had a fiancee, when he probably knew about this all along.   
That’s probably what the “private family business” that he had to take care of on the first day we arrived at America was. That’s probably the reason why he wished to go to meet his father alone.   
She must have been there.   
And Im angry that through all this, I managed to convince myself it would be anything different from what I had imagined.   
That he would change for me; that he was serious.   
I’m angry that even though I knew perfectly well that this was likely to happen, that even with anticipation for heart break, it did nothing for the large gaping hole I feel in my chest right now. 

Most of all, I’m angry at myself for not realising…not even once, that even though he said he wanted me, he never once told me he liked me. 

“ God,” I whisper, as I let out a laugh of disbelief.  
I lost didn’t I?  
I betted all in, and I lost. 

“ Whoa, what did that hoop ever do to you?”

I hear the familiar sound of the basketball bouncing against the ground and I turn to the approaching voice. My eyes widen.   
“ Yo,” Kagami says with a little wave.   
“ K-Kagami kun,” I say in surprise. “ What are you doing here?”  
Kagami scratches his neck as he stops before me and a slow grin forms on his lips.   
“ Here for to play basketball of course,” he replies, and continues to dribble the ball. “ Now that I think about it, isn’t this the court we always used to play ball in back in high school?”  
I shake my head.   
“ What are you doing in Japan, Kagami kun?”  
“ I’m here cause my agent’s making me take part in some ad campaign for some running shoe brand,” he says with a scowl, as if shooting an ad campaign would be the most horrible thing he’s ever had to do.   
“ I mean, I’m a basketball player, you know? I can’t model. Or act. Why couldn’t they get some actor or model to do it? Kise would be perfect for it actually. He’s a model, and actor and an athlete.”  
Despite my previous crappy mood, I can’t help but smile at that.   
“ Kagami kun sure is popular now,” I say with a small chuckle, “ it makes me proud to be your friend.”  
I watch in amusement as Kagami’s face once again bursts into flames, as he squirms and tries to play it off cool.   
He really hasn’t changed at all.   
I smile.   
“ So,” he says, his voice suddenly serious. “ Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”  
My smile falters.   
“ I can’t fool Kagami kun at all, can I?”   
“ That goes without saying,” he mutters, and throws an arm around my shoulders. “ Well? What will it be? Maijou Burgers like old times? By the way, you still owe me that meal you promised me.”

 

 

“ He has a what??” Kagami blurts, slamming down his drink angrily.   
“ A fiancee,” I say with a sigh. “ Akashi kun has a fiancee.”  
“ What? But he—I thought—-Doesn’t—-Aren’t you two—-“ He splutters incoherently as he just stares at me.   
“ I thought so too,” I say quietly.   
Kagami is rendered speechless for a moment as he just stares a me, unsure of what to say. Then, he reaches over and pats me on my head in an awkward fashion.   
Pat, pat, pat.   
“ Uh…it’s going to be okay, you know?” He says, continuing to pat my blue locks. “ He was an asshole anyway.”  
I can’t help but let out a peal of laughter at Kagami’s frantic expression. Kagami reals back in surprise at my outburst and stares.   
“ Oh my god, Akashi Seijuro broke Kuroko Tetsuya.”  
“…No, Kagami kun,” I say between laughs, “ I am not sad.”  
He raises an eyebrow in confusion.   
“ You’re…not?”  
I shake my head. My grip tightens around my vanilla milkshake.  
“ I’m angry.”  
Theres a brief pause.   
“ But you never get mad. I remember there was a time when I accidentally broke your new phone and you didn't get mad. Kise lied to you and left for six years and you didn't get mad.”  
I frown. “ That is not true at all, I was too busy missing Kise kun to be angry at him. And as for that time you broke my phone…well, let’s just say that time you coincidentally lost your favourite basketball was no accident.”  
“ …You stole my basketball?” He yelps.   
I say nothing as I take a quiet sip of my drink.   
“…I didn’t know you had this side to you, Kuroko.”

“ Are you a closeted sadist, Tetsuya?” 

His words from that night run through my head and my heart stops for a split second.   
“ Kagami kun,” I say quietly. “ it was useless after all.”  
“ Kuroko…”  
“ I thought if I tried my best…I thought if I took the risk, my feelings would reach him.”  
I pause as I glance up at Kagami.   
“ it didn’t, did it? He doesn’t care about me after all does he?”  
As Kagami doesn’t respond, I laugh a bitter laugh.   
“ I’m just uselessly chasing the silhouette of someone who would never turn around for me.”  
“ Then he’s stupid, and you should stop chasing after him. If he doesn’t turn around for you…then he’s completely out of his mind.”  
Suddenly, I am very thankful I ran into Kagami today. Suddenly, I am very thankful for his presence right now.   
I smile.   
“ Thank you, Kagami kun,” I say.   
He doesn’t respond and takes another huge bite of his hamburger.   
As we leave the joint, I remember something.   
“ Say…” I trail off. “ Do you have time tomorrow night?”  
“ Tomorrow night? Yes, why?”  
I brighten up. “ Would you like to come with me to the launch party at A.S.? Kise kun and Aomine kun are going to be there, and it’s been a long time since we were all together, and….and I think having you there would make me feel a bit… stronger.”  
Kagami grins.   
“ Do I have to dress fancy?”  
I laugh and nod.   
“ By the way,” he says as we’re met with the cool night breeze. “ Do you still have that basketball?”  
I nod.   
“ Can I uh, have it back?”  
I chuckle and nod again. “ Of course, Kagami kun. I’m sorry I kept it for so long.”  
“ Great,” he says.   
We walk in silence for a couple minutes.   
“ I really liked that basketball,” he adds.   
“ I know, Kagami kun. That’s why I stole it.”

 

 

Kagami and I walk around for a bit before we decide to head over to my apartment so that he could get his basketball back.   
“ Aomine kun will be surprised,” I say.   
“ Is the idiot still head over heels for Kise?”  
I nod.   
“ They’re in a world of their own,” I say as we turn around the corner to my apartment.  
As I turn on my phone to check the time, 53 new notifications pop up.   
34 new missed calls from Akashi kun, 17 new text messages from Akashi kun, 2 new text messages from Aomine kun.

I widen my eyes and click on Aomine’s new text messages first. 

 

Oi, Tetsu, when are you coming home? Can you bring me back some food?  
-received 6:01 pm

 

I quickly type a reply. 

I apologise, Aomine kun. I was out and my phone was off.   
Send.

 

My fingers pause over Akashi’s name before I click on it.

 

Tetsuya, you know I do not enjoy texting people.   
Return my calls.  
received 5:21 pm

 

What are you doing that’s so important if you can’t return my calls?  
\- received 5:25 pm

 

Tetsuya. This is the third text message I have ever sent in my entire life. I hope you feel honoured.   
Do not make me send a fourth.   
received 5:35 pm

 

Tetsuya, why aren’t you home?  
-received 5:40 pm

 

Tetsuya, if you aren't home when I come by at 8 pm, I will be very upset.   
-received 6:30 pm

 

 

“ Kagami kun,” I say urgently and grab his sleeve. “ Wait, let’s not go in yet.”  
“ Huh? Why?”  
“ There’s a reason,” I say quickly as a tug him in the opposite direction. “ Come on.”

 

“ Tetsuya.”

 

Akashi’s familiar voice sounds from behind me and I swear for a moment, my heart stops beating. I hear Kagami say a soft “ Oh,” under his breath.   
I brace myself and turn around to face Akashi.   
He’s furious. 

I can tell right away. 

 

Akashi comes striding towards us in his black dress shirt and black pants, his grey tie out of place unlike it’s usual perfect and rumpless form. His hair gleams a bright red under the warm orange of the street lights and his eyes are ice cold daggers.   
He stops before me and eyes my hands around Kagami’s arm.   
I don’t let go.   
“ This is what you’ve been doing, Tetsuya?” He questions in a dangerous tone. “ I gave you the day off to rest.”  
“ I did rest,” I reply, surprised by how even my voice sounded. “ I played basketball.”  
“ Come with me,” He snaps and grabs my wrist, leading me to his car.   
“ I can’t,” I say and shake off his hand. “ I already have plans tonight.”  
“ Tetsuya,” he hisses, and yanks harder,“ do not be so obtuse——“  
“ He said no,” Kagami interrupts.   
“ Kagami Taiga,” Akashi says darkly, “ I want you to leave Tetsuya alone.”  
“ You should be the one to—-“  
I shake my head.   
“ It’s okay,” I say quietly, to Kagami.   
Although I am grateful for his help, this is a battle I have to face on my own. I can’t just rely on Kagami, or Aomine, or Kise to support me.   
I turn to Akashi with a respectful bow. It takes all my will to not burst out and demand him to tell me why he never told me about the fiancee.   
“ I apologise, Akashi kun,” I say. “ Im afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave tonight.”  
Akashi stares at me for a long and hard moment before he realises the scene he’s causing and regains his composure.  
“ Fine,” he says through gritted teeth. “ Come find me first thing tomorrow morning.”  
“ I understand,” I say flatly. “ Good night, Akashi kun.”  
He takes one last look before he turns around and speeds away in his car. I wait till the distant vroom of his engine fades before I turn to Kagami.   
“ How did I do?” I ask with a small smile. 

 

 

 

The night of the launch party comes, and I am saved from picking up Akashi since he will be travelling in the same car as his father and his…fiancee.   
It still hurts to say it aloud, to merely think it even.  
I stare at my reflection.   
I stare at the figure dressed in a pale blue dress shirt and a pair of tailored midnight pants, with a dark tie to match. My hair was styled so that it’s a lot neater than before, and I think back to the first day when I appeared at A.S. in my ratty t shirt and jeans which were too big for me.   
Suddenly, I missed it.   
I missed the children, I missed the quiet days that went by without having my heart go on overdrive.   
But most off all; above all that?  
…I missed Akashi.   
My cerulean eyes harden as I pick up the matching black suit that was lying on my bed. 

I’m going to confront him tonight.   
I will ask him to explain.   
Im not going to run away from facing this inevitable encounter anymore. 

 

 

“ Kurokocchi!” Kise exclaims and runs forward with his arms extended. “ You look so adorable!”  
“ Kise kun, please stop,” I say with difficulty as I try to fend off his advances.  
“ Look!” I say in attempt to distract him. “ It’s Kagami kun.”  
The look Kagami shoots me is one full of betrayal.   
Kise widens his eyes as he notices Kagami standing behind me.   
“ Kagamicchi?” He echoes in amazement, and unwinds his arms from my shoulders. I let out a sigh of relief and join Aomine at our table.   
“ How are you holding up?” Aomine asks as I sit down.   
“ Im doing fine,” I reply. “ You make it sound like Im suffering from a terminal illness or something, Aomine kun.”  
He shrugs, “ if Kise randomly tells me he has a fiancee one day, I think I wouldn’t be holding up as well as you right now.”  
“ Im completely fine,” I confirm. I don't know who I’m trying to reassure; him or me?  
Kise and Kagami joins us at our table and Kise frowns.   
“ Kurokocchi, have you ever heard of the five stages of grief?”   
I shake my head.   
“ Five stages of grief,” Kise says, “ The five stages one must go through before he or she can accept an unfortunate circumstance. Stage one: anger, stage 2: denial, stage 3: bargaining, stage 4: depression, and finally stage 5: acceptance. Kurokocchi right now, I think you are in stage 2, the denial phase.”  
“ Now that I think about it, you were angrily playing basketball by yourself yesterday, and now you’re perfectly fine,” Kagami murmurs.   
“ That’s not real, Kise kun,” I argue, “ when you left, I skipped straight to acceptance and Aomine kun remained in a forever depression stage.”  
“ Oi!” Aomine objects.   
Kise chooses to ignore this eyes me with concern.   
I could tell what he was thinking. He’s worried I’m going to blow up when I see him again. He’s worried that Im not going to be able to take it.   
He’s wrong, I think stubbornly.   
Im not going to blow up.   
Not tonight at least.   
“ Im going to be fine,” I say again for good measures.   
The words feel heavy on my tongue as all three of my friends fall silent.   
“ What?” I say, confused at what they were all staring at.   
“ What exactly is going to be fine, Tetsuya? “ I hear someone say behind me.   
I know who it is before i even turn around.   
Akashi stood tall and poised as his eyes were downcast on mine. His fiancee, Ri Ah, stood at his side.   
“ Akashi kun,” I greet.   
“ You were supposed to meet me in my office this morning,” Akashi comments, tone unreadable, and his face betraying even less.   
I settle my pokerface to do the same.   
“ I got held up with preparations,” I lie smoothly. “ I apologise.”  
Akashi raises an eyebrow in response. It is impossible to see what he could be thinking of, what he could be feeling.   
“ I would almost assume that you were avoiding me, Tetsuya.”  
I wonder why?  
“ Of course not, Akashi kun,” I say pleasantly instead.   
It’s like we were dancing around each other, both of us wary to mention the real issue at hand.   
“ Right, then you wouldn’t mind if Ri Ah and I joined your table?”   
I stiffened as I glanced at Ri Ah who looked so amazingly beautiful in her bright red strapless dress that matched Akashi’s hair perfectly. She notices my staring and only smiles back.   
“ Kuroko kun, would you mind?” She asks politely.   
“ We do actually,” Aomine says bluntly, casting a dark glance in Akashi’s direction.   
Akashi’s poker face remains the same, and Ri Ah holds my gaze evenly. I see Kise watching me carefully from the corner of my eye, his face a mask of worry.  
After a pause, I force myself to smile.   
Im not going to blow up.  
“ I apologise for my friend,” I say, “ he’s quite shy around beautiful women.”  
I hear Aomine choke in protest and Kise elbows him in the stomach.   
Surprise flickers across Akashi’s eyes before he regains his composure and smiles tightly.   
Ri Ah’s eyes crinkle in amusement as she grins at me again before turning to Akashi.   
“ You never told me how charming your assistant was, Akashi.”  
“ Oh, it’s just as surprising to me as it is to you,” was Akashi’s response.   
Akashi chooses to sit in the empty seat straight across from me, and Ri Ah settles in beside him. I swallow hard at the sight of them together, right in there in front of me, and suddenly I feel stupid for allowing them to sit with us. 

“ Are you secretly a closeted sadist, Tetsuya?”  
I remember Akashi’s words from that day. 

No, I think. It’s more like a stupidly incessant masochist. 

An awkward silence falls upon the table as we all eye each other warily. Aomine and Kise are staring at me, Kagami is glaring at Akashi, while Akashi has his mismatched eyes trained on mine.   
I hold them for as long as I can before I glance away, unable to take their intensity. 

My chest is tight. 

“ How long have you been working with Akashi, Kuroko kun?”  
I glance over at Ri Ah.   
“ About four months,” I reply.   
“ I heard that Akashi is a horrible boss,” Ri Ah says with a small laugh. It sounds like tinkering bells. She then turns to Akashi. “ I overheard some of your employees speak about you.”  
“ That’s absurd,” Akashi says with a sniff.   
Pain tears at my heart as I watch the two of them interact.   
You can do this, I tell myself. Just breathe. Just get through tonight, and it’ll all be over.   
Kise coughs pointedly and Aomine snorts.   
“ Akashi kun can simply be…misunderstood sometimes,” I say helpfully automatically, then curse myself for saying nice things about Akashi when all he’s done is lie to me.   
“ Oh?” Ri Ah murmurs, amused. “ He’s quite caring towards you, don’t you think, Kuroko kun?”  
My fingers fumble and I lose my grip on my wine glass. The red liquid splashes across my light blue dress shirt and leaves me in a sopping pathetic mess.   
For a moment, the whole table is quiet.   
Akashi then sighs and takes off his jacket, about to offer it to me, when Kagami pulls me up, and laughs.   
“ What are you thinking about these days, Kuroko?” He asks, wiping my shirt with a napkin. “ Don’t zone out like that.”  
I feel Akashi’s heavy gaze on my face, and I try my best to laugh too.   
“ I apologise, Kagami kun,” I say. “ Im a bit tired is all. Im going to the washroom to clean up.”  
“ I’ll come wit—-“  
“ It’s alright, Kagami kun,” I tell him. “ I am a grown adult. I can manage this by myself.”  
I don’t wait for anyone to respond before I walk away. 

 

 

I think one of the things I like best about A.S. is the amazing view at night.   
I take in a long and deep breath of fresh air as I approach the ledge of the balcony. The weather hasn’t been looking too great these days, so there were no stars tonight. I tip my head back and stare at the luminescent skies reflecting the city lights below. 

Absent-mindedly, I stretch out my hand and reach for the skies.   
Would it work?  
If I tried hard enough…Could I reach it?

….Could I reach him?

 

With a small startled laugh, I let my arm fall to my sides.   
“ What am I doing?” I murmur to myself. 

 

“ That was my question.”

 

I whirl around to find Akashi leaning against the door, his jacket draped across his shoulders and his black dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, showing off his defined forearms.   
His eyes twinkle with amusement as he regards me from a distance.   
“ Tetsuya,” he greets pleasantly.   
My heart lurches at the sight of him and I struggle to keep my face composed.   
“ Akashi kun,” I greet in the same manner.   
“ You missed my speech,” he comments, walking towards me, his stride elegant like a cat’s.  
“ Is that so?” I say quietly, “ Im sorry to hear that.”  
“ Yes, it was quite the speech.”  
We fall into another one of our comfortable silences as we both glanced out towards the city below us. Neither of us spoke and neither of us mentioned anything about what was wrong. 

The tension was thick enough to be sliced with a knife. 

I close my eyes and tell myself to do it.   
Confront him about it.   
But a part of me understands, that if I do, there will be no going back.   
The truth will be played out in the open, and I’ll have no choice but to accept it.   
“ Tetsuya,” I hear him murmur.   
I turn at the sound of his voice, only to find that he had leaned in, and without a warning, he’s kissing me, arms reaching out to pull me towards him.   
I stand frozen at the sensation of his lips against mine; something I never thought I would be able to feel again.   
It felt so right.   
So absolutely and perfectly right…even though I knew all the reasons why it was wrong. 

Slowly, I push him away.   
Akashi’s eyes are unreadable as I do so.   
“ Stop,” I say.  
He is quiet before he asks, “ why?”

 

And maybe that was it.   
That one word.   
Why?  
Such a simple word, such an innocent word.   
And yet it was that one word that flipped a switch inside me. 

Suddenly, I am furious.

“ What do you mean why?” I say, hands clenched against my sides. “ I don’t think I need to remind you that your fiancee is waiting for you downstairs, Akashi kun.”  
His tone is apathetic as he responds, “ and?”  
“ And?” I repeat in disbelief, eyes wide and mouth open, in search for words. Tears prick my eyes as I take a deep breath.   
“ You can’t just kiss me if you’re about to get married with someone else, Akashi kun.”  
He lets out a breath, his brows furrowing.   
“ Tetsuya, listen to me. This turn of events doesn't change anything.” He reaches out for my arm, “ we don’t have to change—“  
“ But it does change things!” I blurt, unable to keep my voice down any longer. “ You lied to me!”  
“ I never lied to you, Tetsuya,” Akashi says quietly, in a low dangerous voice. “ You never asked me if I had a fiancee.”  
That infuriating piece of ——  
“ Oh my god,” I whisper, “ unbelievable, Akashi kun. I always thought you were a little unpredictable, but not like this. Not like…”  
I trail off, unsure of what I wanted to say.   
Akashi takes another step towards me and I feel his hand close around mine.   
“ Tetsuya,” he murmurs into my ear, “ Don't be so stubborn. We can make things go back to the way they were. We can leave after this party ends, and we can go to my house, and I’ll make it up to you then—-“  
“ I can’t,” I say coldly, shaking his hand off.   
“ God, Tetsuya, why are you so—“ I could hear him get frustrated.   
But it wasn’t his turn to get mad.   
Not today.   
Not after all this.  
“ I have feelings for you! Akashi kun,” I say in near hysterics. “ I have feelings…i can’t just look past all this, and pretend that everything is okay! I can’t just pretend that I don’t feel for you the way that I do! I can’t look at Ri Ah-san knowing that Im a complete liar, and I..”  
“ I don’t do this.”  
I motion to us.   
“ What are trying to say, Tetsuya?” Akashi questions quietly, voice dangerously low.   
“ Im saying—“  
“ If you’re trying to tell me what I think you’re trying to tell me, then you better not bother.”  
“ I’m saying Im done,” I continue anyways.   
Tonight, I wasn’t about to do things on his terms.   
Not anymore.  
“ This?” I say, motioning to us. “ We’re done, Akashi kun.”

I don’t wait for his response, nor do I wait to see what his face looked like before I turn on my heels and walk the other way, feeling light headed and a little giddy.   
“ Tetsuya,” I hear him call from behind me, “ think about what you’re doing. Tetsuya, I demand you to stop.”  
With one hand on the door knob, I turn around.   
“ Oh, and I apologise if it’s not obvious, Akashi kun, but I quit.”  
And then I let the door close. 

I did it.   
It was done.   
I should be congratulating myself, but instead I let the tears fall. 

 

Kagami was the only one left at our table when I came back. Kise and Aomine were both out of sight, and Ri Ah was too.   
The moment he laid his eyes on me, Kagami’s expression changed.   
Probably because he saw my expression.  
I pause as I stop before him.   
He doesn't ask me what’s wrong and only stands up, handing me my suit.   
“ Are you ready to go?”  
“ Yes,” I say quietly. “ Take me out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has a happy ending.   
> I swear.


	18. The Third Reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.  
> One word: midterms.  
> And why in the hell would universities think it's a brilliant idea to give two midterms?  
> No.  
> Midterm means middle of term.  
> There are not two "middle of terms. "  
> Flips table.  
> Anyways, I apologise for making you all wait.  
> Here's the chapter. :)

 

Sometimes I wish I weren’t a person with great morals, or a sense of responsibility.  
Sometimes I wish I could just do what I want to do, and damn the consequences, and yet…  
And yet.  
And yet here I am.  
I gaze at the glistening building before me with a sigh.  
I already said good bye to this place.  
To A.S.  
To his world.To him.  
I was ready to let go.  
I did let go.  
And yet.  
And yet here I am.  
I take a step forward. 

 

————————————————————————————————————————————-

 

“ Are you ready to go?” Kagami questions, handing me my coat.  
I take it from him with a small nod, and a small wavering smile.  
“ Take me out of here,” I reply.  
We walk out of the building as I silently said good bye to every single person who passed me by. I even said good bye to the old coffee machines that made annoyingly bitter coffee.  
“ Kuroko!” I hear someone call from behind me.  
When I turn around I feel a wave of sadness all over again.  
“ Hotaru san,” I say with a smile.  
“ I’ll wait for you outside,” Kagami says and takes off.  
She grins at me and takes a step back to show off her dress. It was a beautiful sky blue one that fell in ruffles at her knees.  
“ What do you think?” She asks me in excitement, smugness lacing her tone. “ I clean up pretty well, don't I?”  
I chuckle at her jokingly arrogant grin.  
“ Yes, the dress looks lovely on you.”  
“ I got it cause it looks like your hair. Hey, Kuroko, have I ever told you how much I like your hair? It’s annoyingly beautiful. Like, why in the hell would a guy need such beautiful hair, it’s so unfair,” she says with a pout and leans in to touch it.  
That’s when I notice that her cheeks were tainted a soft pink and she looked a little wobbly on her feet.  
“ Have you had some to drink tonight, Hotaru san?” I ask in amusement.  
She shakes her head and waves me off. “ I haven’t even started yet.”  
Then she turns and wobbles her way back to the ball room where the even was still taking place.  
“ Please go easy on the alcohol, Hotaru san!” I call after her.  
She waves her hand without turning around.  
“ Go away,” she complains, “ you sound like a polite version of my mother.”  
I chuckle again before the smile slowly fades away.  
“ good bye,” I say to no one in particular. 

 

 

“ It’s over then?” Kagami says in disbelief.  
“ It’s over.”  
Kagami looks at me skeptically. “ Did Akashi agree that it’s over?”  
I pause to consider this. “ Not exactly,” I say after a while. “ Although it doesn’t really matter, since i didn't exactly give him a chance to agree. I made quite a statement though. I told him it was over and then I quit my job. You would have been proud if you were to witness it.”  
“ Im proud now,” Kagami tells me.  
“ Thank you.”  
A short pause.  
“…Are you okay?”  
I stop walking and so does Kagami. We stare at each other for a moment before I let the mask I’ve built for myself crumble. I smile a small wistful smile.  
“ No,” I murmur. “ I’m not okay, right now, Kagami kun. I’m not okay at all.”  
“…”  
“ Im not okay right now,” I continue and take a deep breath. “ But I will be. Some day. It might be tomorrow, it might be a week from now, or it might be even a year. But that someday will come, and I’m going to be okay again.”  
Slowly, Kagami smiles. he throws an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in close. I smile at the familiarity of his embrace.  
“ That’s the spirit, Kuroko.”

“ …I really liked him, Kagami kun.”

“ …I know.”

 

 

I said good bye to Kagami shortly after. He offered to stay with me longer, but I truthfully just wanted time to myself. Everything felt numb at first, but Im slowly regaining my senses again.  
I stare down at my hands silently as I smile to myself.  
You’re going to go home today Kuroko, I think. You’re going to go home today and cry, and tomorrow, you’ll get up in the morning and carry on with your life.  
You have to carry on.  
You will carry on.  
I pause in front of my apartment at the sight of an unfamiliar black car.  
With a frown, I walk past it, and make my way up to my room.  
The darkened windows meant that Aomine still hasn't returned home. He was probably with Kise. A hint of a smile appears on my lips. Those two better work out for all the awkward situations they’ve put me through.  
My feet halt to a stop as my eyes land on a figure leaning against my door, the shadows hiding his face. I take a step backwards automatically and reach for my phone.  
My hands freeze as I hear the one word escape the figure’s lips. 

“ Tetsuya.”

I’ve always disliked, and loved the way that he calls me.  
So court, so…undeniably alluring. It leaves you wanting more.  
I tense and put on my poker face.  
“ Akashi kun,” I say evenly, surprised by how calm I sounded. “ You’re making this very difficult for me.”  
“ Am I?” He says and steps out from the dark, the moon light hitting the angular cut of his jawline and the beautiful arch of his nose. His eyes glint, not with amusement, and not with condescendence. With something else…  
There is a pause as we just stare at each other, neither of us making a move.  
“ Well?” I say. “ What are you doing here?”  
“ There’s a reason.”  
“ Which is?”  
Akashi doesn’t reply and takes a step forwards, I hold my ground. I feel the heavy weight of his eyes on mine and try to swallow down the uncomfortable lump forming in my throat.  
He stares at me for a long time, before realisation settles into his eyes.  
“ You’re serious about this,” he says in disbelief.  
“ I was quite serious when I said it’s over,” I agreed, every single word feeling like lead on my tongue.  
“ You don’t want me to call you anymore.”  
“ No.”  
“ You don’t want me to touch you anymore.”  
“ No.”  
“ You don’t…you don’t like me anymore.”  
I take a deep breath.  
“ No,” I lie.

Lie, lie, lie, all lies.

I watch as hurt flickers across Akashi’s eyes for a single fleeting moment. For a moment I thought I had imagined it, but it was definitely there. His heterochromatic eyes turn cold and he takes a step back, as if I had slapped him.  
“ Fine,” he spits. “ Then I came for two reasons.”  
My heart thunders in my chest, and I feel my heart beat weaken.  
“ What two reasons?”  
Akashi crosses his arms.  
“You can’t quit,” he says simply.  
I frown. “ Yes I can, Akashi kun. It’s a free country.”  
“ Not exactly,” he says darkly. “ You promised me. You promised you would keep working for me until I don’t need you anymore. You leave on my terms. Not yours.”  
A thousand inappropriate words fly through my mind as my mouth falls open with a tiny pop.  
“ Have you forgotten your promise, Tetsuya?” Akashi questions, his steely gaze firm on my wide eyes.  
“ No.”

Yes.  
I completely did. 

“ Then you will not quit. Take back what you said about quitting.”  
I resist an urge to strangle myself as I replayed how cool I thought I looked when I walked out on him earlier tonight.  
I close my eyes for a long moment and Akashi remains silent, quietly studying my face.  
“ F..fine,” I say with a sigh. “ I do not break promises, and unfortunately I did make one to you.”  
Akashi says nothing and waits for my answer.  
“ I’ll come to work on Monday, as usual,” I say.  
Akashi’s eyes widen before they return to their usual icy and cool stare.  
“ Good,” he murmurs.  
“ But—-“  
“ But?”  
“ This doesn’t mean anything,” I clarify. “ I’ll come back to work, only if we maintain a strictly professional relationship. Nothing more.”  
Akashi’s eyes harden again and he clenches his jaw, the muscle in his neck twitching.  
“ Fine,” he spits.  
We are left staring at each other again, and I clear my throat.  
“ What’s the second reason?”  
“ What?”  
“ The second reason why you’re here.”  
Akashi steps forward again and hold out his hand, palm up.  
I stare at it stupidly.  
“ What?” I ask, confused.  
“ You took something from me,” he says through clenched teeth. “ I want it back.”  
“ I didn’t take anything from you.”  
“ Don’t play innocent with me, Tetsuya. Thievery is a crime.”  
I wrack my brain and still come up with nothing.  
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say evenly, trying to push past him. “ If you’ll excuse me, I have things—-“  
“ Tetsuya,” Akashi hisses, then closes his eyes in frustration. I stare at the wrinkle between Akashi’s eyebrows, and wonder how it is one can look so undeniably good looking even when in the crappiest mood.  
“ The photo,” he says finally, his eyes snapping open. “ I want the picture back.”

The photo….  
The photo.  
Of me.

 

“ Why?” I ask. “ The person in it is me, I have rights to the picture.”  
“ If you wish to speak of rights, I can call up my lawyer for you.”  
I really could give it back, it’s not like I wanted to keep the thing, but in that moment, I just stubbornly did not want to lose.  
“ Why does it matter?” I snap, “ it’s just a picture!”  
“ It matters to me,” Akashi snaps back.  
My heart stutters in response and I open my mouth to argue, but no sounds come out.  
Then as if, wakening from some sort of spell, he reels back and takes a deep breath.  
“ Why didn’t you ask?”  
“ About what?” I question, not really understanding where this was going.  
“ The picture,” he says, impatience lacing his tone again. This was a side to Akashi that I rarely see.  
Impatience, hot headedness, a roller coaster of emotions.  
“ Why didn’t you ask about it?”  
“ Maybe I don’t want to know,” I say reluctantly, even though I was dying to know. I try to push past him again, but he blocks the door.  
“ Akashi kun—-“  
“ You really don’t care, do you?” He asks, his voice sounding unlike him.  
Don’t fall for it, Kuroko. Don’t fall for it.  
“ No.”  
And with that one word, Akashi steps aside. I don't move immediately as I take a moment to realise what was happening.  
He stepped aside.  
He’s letting me go.  
With a shaking breath, I reach for my keys.  
Good, I think. It’s what I want. 

Another lie.

I hear Akashi’s foot steps fading down the hall before they stop abruptly.  
“ Bring the photo on Monday,” I hear him say from behind me.  
And then he was gone. 

 

 

———————————————————————————————————————————------------------------------------------

“ You’re late, Kuroko,” Hotaru says in surprise as she notices me standing awkwardly by the main entrance.  
I take in the sight of my friend whom I didn’t think I would see again and I smile.  
“ I apologise.”  
She shakes her head with a laugh and lifts her coffee mug to her smirking lips.  
“ Don’t apologise to me,” she says, “ the one you should apologise to is your boss up stairs who’s probably very very angry right now.”  
My heart doubles in speed as I envision having to spend all day with Akashi again. My smile falters.  
“ Right.”  
“ Tell me how it goes,” she calls after me. 

 

That’s if I survive without combusting on the spot, I think. 

 

 

It’s needless to say that I was nervous coming to work.  
First of all, I would have to see the guy I love, who just so happens has a fiancee.  
Second of all, I ended things with said guy, and quit my job so I wouldn’t have to see him again.  
Third of all, even after ending things cooly, I still have to come to work, because as it turns out, I am a person with morals.  
I clench the picture I carried in my pocket thoughtlessly.  
And this picture.  
Why was he so incessant about getting this picture back?  
I pause before Akashi’s office.  
Panic spreads throughout me as I realise something I’ve completely overlooked.  
Akashi and I made the promise that I would work for him so long as he “needed me.”

But how long would that be?

A month?  
A year?  
Ten years?

I wouldn’t be stuck by his side, forced to watch as he lives a normal and happy life with his wife, would I?

I squeeze my eyes shut and will myself to be teleported from this building.  
I turn around in panic.  
It’s not too late.  
I could leave right now—-  
“ Kuroko kun?”  
It’s that voice.  
That light melodic peal of bells.  
I turn around to find a smiling Ri Ah standing behind me. She held the door of Akashi’s office open with one hand while the other brushed a piece of her brown locks behind her ear.  
“ Ri Ah san,” I greet reluctantly.  
And I miss my chance to escape, yet again.  
She grins.  
“ Hi, it’s good to see you again. See, I told you Akashi. He came after all didn’t he?”  
She then turns to me with a mischievous smile. “ He was worried you wouldn’t come to work.”  
Ri Ah winks as if this was our little secret, and I find it harder and harder to dislike her.  
“ Didn’t you say you had matters to attend to, Ri Ah?” Akashi says, a hint of annoyance lacing his tone. He must have overheard what Ri Ah disclosed to me.  
Akashi’s senses are inhuman.  
She laughs and dances away.  
“ Right, right. I’ll see you at the commercial shoot, Kuroko kun.”  
“ Good bye,” I say.  
I almost don’t want her to leave. On one hand, I didn’t want to see those two together, and yet on the other, I didn’t want to be alone with Akashi.  
“ You’re late,” Akashi says coldly, without even a glance up.  
His sudden change in attitude startles me. Last night, he was hostile, but there were raw emotions beneath that cold attitude. Today…  
“ I apologise,” I say evenly. “ I got held up by traffic.”  
He glances up and turns his attention back to his papers.  
As if I wasn’t of any interest to him.  
“ Don’t be late next time.”  
“ Right.”  
And then I understood.  
He’s being professional. He’s bidding to my wishes.  
It’s like we’re pretending we never happened.  
My heart sinks to the pits of my stomach even though this is what I told him that I wanted.  
“ I’ll go prepare for the commercial today.”  
“ Tetsuya.”  
I stop and turn around. Akashi’s eyes were on me; a look I couldn’t read.  
“ Did you bring the photo?”  
I hesitate, staring back at him for a short second before I reach into my pockets and set the wrinkled picture on his desk.  
His eyes trail to the picture of me in my uniform and he nods.  
“ That will be all.”

 

 

 

 

“ Kurokocchi?!” Kise exclaims as he spots me. “ Kurokocchi what are you doing here?”  
I send Kise a half hearted wave as I set the stack of folders I was carrying down on the ground.  
“ Hello, Kise kun.”  
He stops before me and eyes me with caution.  
“ Why are you still here? Kagamicchi told Aominecchi who told me that you broke up with Akashi and quit your job.”  
I shush him and sigh, waving him closer.  
“ It’s complicated, Kise kun. Look, why don’t you focus on your commercial for now, and we can talk after this?”  
He looks as if he’s about to argue for a second, and then pauses and nods.  
“ Fine.”  
I turn away but Kise catches my hand.  
“ Hey, Kurokocchi,” he says carefully. “ Are you going to be okay?”  
I smile a small reassuring smile.  
“ I’ll be fine.”  
The venue for the commercial was a secluded valley close to the ocean. It was in the middle of the day, and the sun was beating down hard. The slightly chilly spring breeze blew past the meadow, making the grass sway side to side.  
I watch as Kise chases the kids we casted as extras around, the camera rolling, and capturing every single beautiful moment with ease.  
I hear a sharp intake of breath, and notice the panicked look upon of of the assistant producer’s face.  
Akashi notices this too.  
“ What’s wrong?” He questions immediately.  
“ We’re missing a kid,” she says in horror.  
Akashi narrows his eyes and mine widen. Ri Ah who was standing next to him frowns.  
“ What do you mean, we’re missing a kid?”  
The assistant rampages through her clip board, “ there should be eleven children on set. There’s only ten right now.”  
“ Maybe one couldn’t make it,” Ri Ah says logically.  
She shakes her head. “ No, there were eleven children here before we started filming, but now there’s only ten.”  
“ You lost a child in a span of thirty minutes?” Akashi says incredulously.  
The assistant swallows as she shrinks back in fear.  
“ He should be around the area then,” I say, then turn to Akashi. “ I’ll go find him.”  
Akashi gives me a long hard look before he nods.  
“ What’s his name?” I ask.  
“ Miyazono Akira.”  
I turn and head towards the thick display of trees. If I knew one thing about kids, is that they have an adventurous heart adults like me couldn’t ever comprehend.  
“ Tetsuya,” I hear Akashi call from behind me.  
There it is again, that short and blunt way he says my name.  
And the stuttering of my heart that soon follows.  
I turn around.  
Akashi stands with his arms crossed over his chest, and an unreadable expression across his face. 

“ Be safe.”

 

 

 

The kid was impossible to find.  
I curse inwardly as I feel yet another branch slice through the delicate skin on my leg. I pause to examine it, and came to a conclusion that I would live.  
I let out a frustrated breath as I glanced at the environment around me.  
“ Come on, Akira kun,” I mumble to no one in particular. “ Where in the world did you go?”  
If I were a ten year old kid, where would I go?  
Suddenly, the sound of my phone interrupts my thoughts.  
“ Hello?” I say as I pick up.  
“ Tetsuya?” It’s Akashi.  
“ Yes, Akashi kun?”  
“ Did you find the child?”  
“ No,” I say, with a frown. “ I’ve searched the entire forest, just about.”  
There’s a short huff on the other line, and I imagine Akashi crossing his arms. It’s a weird habit of his.  
“ Never mind, then,” he says. “ Come back, Tetsuya. We will send out a searching party as soon as possible.”  
“ No,” I reason, “ It’ll take a while for the search and rescue party to come. What if the child is injured? I’ll keep looking in the mean time.”  
“ Listen, Tetsuya—“  
“ Hold on,” I say as the sound of lapping waves catches my attention. “ I didn’t search the beach yet.”  
“ Tetsuya, listen to me—-“  
“ I’ll be right back, Akashi kun.”

 

I run along the entire stretch of the shore, calling Akira’s name. There’s no response until I hear it. 

“ Help me.”

It was such a weak and frail cry for help that I almost dismissed it as my imagination. And then I see it too.  
A small and pitiful head bobbing amongst the waves about eight meters out from the shore line. For a moment, the blood running in my veins freeze as I just stare at the sight before me. Then, with shaking steps, I walk towards the shore line.  
Slowly, then faster. Faster and faster until I was running.  
I don’t pause to consider that it would be stupid for me to go in to save him without some sort of alert to the others and I don’t pause to consider the dangerous fact that I can’t swim. 

Stupidity. 

But all I can see is child who seemed so small in comparison to that huge body of water.  
If I don’t act now, it might be too late. 

 

The iciness of water against skin is like a harsh slap to the face, and I gasp at contact. I can feel the bottom of the sea with my feet, and I awkwardly waddle towards the child.  
“ Akira kun!” I call. “ Akira kun, don’t be scared. I’m coming to get you okay?”  
Akira doesn’t look as if he can hear me as he bobs up and down against the waves.  
The water is up to my neck now, and the child is still a good four meters away from me. I remember thinking in a daze how convenient it would be in this moment if I were tall like Kise, Aomine or Kagami.  
Finally, I reach him and I’m on my tippy toes, my feet barely touching the bottom.  
What I don’t expect, however is that the child would launch himself at me.  
And he does.  
Akira grapples on to me like I was some personal floatation device, which I am not. The sudden extra weight is enough to throw me off balance, and the waves crash over my head, submerging the both of us under.  
I feel a harsh kick as the child lands one in my stomach. The last breath of air in my lungs escape, and I watch as the surface of the water seems farther and farther away.  
Well, this is it, I think.  
This is how I die.  
Kuroko Tetsuya, death at age of twenty four. Death by drowning.  
At least I would die of a good cause, I think dizzily, because by now, the lack of oxygen is affecting my brain.  
Suddenly, I see a flash of scarlet red, followed by a brilliant yellow break the surface, and I remember thinking of how pretty that colour is.  
The red that is.  
The yellow is pretty too, but it’s always the colour red that takes my breath away.  
Akashi kun, I think before the blackness consumes me. 

 

 

 

“…Tetsuya. Come on, Tetsuya, respond. I demand you to respond, god dammit.”

Who is it?

“ Tetsuya, if you don’t respond, if you don’t wake up, I will go tear down that orphanage you love so much, you hear me? I’ll do it, so wake up!”

My eyes snap open as I roll on to my side, spewing out a mouthful of sea water. My throat burns like fire has been shoved down it, and my vision blurs. 

“ Kurokocchi!” 

My eyes focus on Kise and Akashi’s face that were hovering above mine.  
For a minute, I forget what has happened before I remember. 

“ The kid?” I ask breathlessly. It hurts to talk. 

“ He’s fine. I fished him out,” Kise says at the same time Akashi says,  
“ Are you an idiot, Tetsuya?”

I ignore Akashi and look around for the tiny body I saw floating against the waves earlier.  
“ Let me see him.”  
I manage to stand up, and Akashi grabs my arm.  
I wince at the force he applies to my wrist.  
“ Akashi kun that hurts—-“  
“ Does it, Tetsuya? So you know what it feels like to hurt too?”  
He’s angry.  
Why is he angry?  
Maybe it’s due to almost dying or maybe it was due to my suppressed emotions but I feel myself getting angry too.  
“ Let go, Akashi kun.”

“ No.”

Kise eyes the two of us and slowly backs away, realising that he isn’t a part of the conversation anymore.  
Akashi stares down on me and his eyes are colder than they’ve ever been. I’ve never seen him this furious before.  
Maybe it’s because of the sheer adrenaline coursing through my veins, but I am not afraid of him.  
“ What were you thinking, Tetsuya?” Akashi hisses down at me. “ Why would you do something as stupid as going into the water if you can’t fucking swim?”  
Akashi swore.  
I’ve never heard him swear before, because he doesn’t do it. Akashi Seijuro always uses sophisticated language.  
“ I wasn’t thinking—“ I argue.  
“ Exactly!” He interrupts, “ You weren’t thinking because you never think, Tetsuya.”  
By then, all the staff as well as Ri Ah were quiet as they all stared at the scene going on before them. I expected Akashi to pull away, to recompose himself, but he doesn’t.  
“ Well, I apologise for being “idiotic”, Akashi kun, but I was trying to save a life.”  
“ It doesn’t help if trying to save someone results in you endangering yourself too,” Akashi snaps, venom dripping from his voice. “ God Tetsuya, you’re so insufferably stupid, it drives me crazy.”  
I rip my hand out of his grasp and glare at him.  
“ Well, that’s who I am Akashi kun. Because I’d rather risk my life trying to do something good, than stand by and watch something bad happen. Because that’s who I am, and I’m not going to change. So if it bothers you so much, maybe you shouldn’t pay attention to me.”  
And then Akashi’s eyes flash and for a moment, I see hysteria in them.  
“ Maybe I shouldn’t pay attention to you?” He echoes like a mad man. “ How can I not notice you if you’re all that I ever see?”

That shut me up. 

I stare at him with wide eyes and wonder if he’s gone crazy. Whispers issue around us, and I take a step backwards. Akashi takes a step forwards.  
“ How can I pretend you’re not there,” he continues, “ if you’re all that I think about, every second of every god damned day?”  
He takes another step forwards and I stumble back. He catches my arm and holds me in place, while glowering down upon me.  
“ Tell me, Tetsuya,” he snaps. “ Who in the hell are you to make me feel this way?”  
For a moment I can’t speak, and I am frozen under his capturing stare. Then I see Ri Ah, standing in the distance, her face a mask of surprise, and I snap out of it.  
“ Your feelings are mistaken, then Akashi kun,” I say, slipping my hand out of his. His eyes dim a bit as they search mine.  
“ You’re mistaken,” I repeat, walking away.

 

 

 

 

That night, I repeat his words over and over again in my head. 

 

"How can I pretend you’re not there if you’re all that I think about, every second of every god damned day?”

 

I close my eyes. 

 

“ Tell me, Tetsuya. Who in the hell are you to make me feel this way?”

 

Suddenly a loud peal of knocking sounds at my door and my eyes snap open. 

“ Aomine kun?” I call hesitantly.  
But it can’t be Aomine, because last I heard, he went home to visit his parents.  
I carefully get out of bed. The alarm clock on my nightstand read 1:25 am.  
My hands close around one of Aomine’s baseball bats and I slowly make my way to the door.  
The knocking ensues.  
My hands close around the door knob and I turn, hands tightening around the baseball bat only to find a rumpled, and oh so very drunk Akashi seijuro leaning against my door.  
His normally perfect attire is nothing close to perfect.  
His eyes are glazed over and his cheeks tinted red. His hair is disheveled and his tie completely loosened.  
I drop the bat in confusion, and step out of my apartment.  
“ Akashi kun, what are you—“  
“ The third reason,” he whispers so softly I had to lean in to hear.  
“ What?”  
He takes a step towards me.  
“ This is the third reason I came that night.”  
And then his hands swoop up and close around my face.  
I am pushed up against my closed door with a soft thud, and his lips crash into mine in a hurried, drunken kiss.


	19. Perhaps it would be you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. AM. SO. SORRY. 
> 
> Dear god, this is so overdue, but i just can't life these days T.T 
> 
> Anyways, Please enjoy. And thank you all for your lovely comments( , which I will get back to replying to right after I post this chapter. )

“ The third reason,” he whispers so softly I had to lean in to hear.   
“ What?”  
He takes a step towards me.   
“ This is the third reason why I came that night.”  
And then his hands swoop up and close around my face. I am pushed up against my closed door with a soft thud, and his lips crash into mine in a hurried, drunken kiss. 

 

It’s amazing to think that even though my brain’s functioned perfectly fine for the past twenty four years, it only breaks down when Akashi Seijuro is before me.   
Akashi’s hands are ice against my heated skin as he continues to kiss me. I feel the soft tickle of his long eyelashes fluttering against my cheeks, and the warmth of his lips moving against mine in contradiction to the coldness of his fingertips, cradling my face. He tastes strongly of alcohol, with a slight trace of mint. It makes my mind reel. 

Stop.   
Stop it.   
Stop kissing me.   
Stop making me feel things, hopeless things…  
We can’t be together can we?

I push against his chest, but Akashi doesn’t budge.   
“ Akashi kun,” I mumble against his mouth, “ Akashi kun stop—“  
He doesn’t. It’s as if he can’ t hear me at all. Either that, or he’s just choosing to ignore me. Something about his recent impulsive manners tells me that it’s the latter.   
It’s strange. Everything is strange. Akashi was acting strange.   
Akashi doesn’t do this. Akashi Seijuro doesn't time after time go back to someone who’s chosen to leave him behind.   
Why is he so persistent?  
I grimace and bite down hard on his lip.   
Akashi’s eyes snap open, and he lets out a small cry of pain.   
I take a deep breath and harden my eyes.   
“ It’s one in the morning, Akashi kun. Please go home.”   
I turn around to head back into my house when I feel Akashi’s hand find it’s way into mine. My breath is caught in my throat as my heart plunges to the ground.   
His hand felt so hesitant, so weak, fragile.   
Akashi Seijuro never show’s his weak, hesitant or fragile side to anyone.   
And yet….yet his hand closed around mine was so uncharacteristically gentle.   
“ Tetsuya…”  
My hand freezes against the door knob.   
Turn it, Kuroko, I scream internally. What are you doing?  
“ ‘tsuya, listen tome,” his words slur.   
I feel his cool breath on the back of my neck. Every nerve in my body is on overdrive.   
I slowly turn around.   
Akashi’s face is unreadable. He wears a mask even when drunk, I think in a daze.   
For a moment we just stare at each other, before I break I contact. I shake my head in sad disbelief.   
“ You can’t,” I murmur.  
“ I can’t what?”  
I glance up at his gleaming red and gold eyes.   
“ Kiss me,” I finish, “ you can’t kiss me. You promised. We promised each other. A professional relationship…do you remember, Akashi kun?”  
His tone is wistful when he says, “yes.”  
I bite my tongue hard enough to draw blood.   
“ Then good night, Akashi kun,” I say after a short pause.   
I turn my back on him once again.   
“ Do you know, Tetsuya?”   
I close my eyes shut.   
He just won’t leave, will he?  
“ ….Do I know what, Akashi kun?” I say reluctantly. I still don’t turn around to face him, but I don’t go back inside either.   
“ Do you know when we met?”  
Why mention that now?  
“ On my birthday, January 31. We met at that stupid club Aomine kun dragged me to.”

“ …You’re mistaken,” Akashi says quietly. 

For a second I thought I heard him wrong. I thought I had finally snapped, that now,my brain was just making up random excuses for me to stay.   
I slowly turn around.   
“ You’re mistaken,” Akashi says a little louder.   
My face must have said it all, because Akashi doesn’t even wait for me to ask him to explain. 

“ After my mother’s death fourteen years ago, time stopped for me. I was alive, but I wasn’t living at all. Everyday was the same; go to school, excel in everything I do, come home, do homework, sleep. I was living in an endless cycle of repeats.   
My father told me after my mother’s death that if I wanted to make her proud, I shouldn’t cry. If I want to make my mother happy, I should become the best in everything. I should win every race, every competition.   
So, then that’s what I did. Success, that was the only thing I put all my focus on. It was like I was living on auto pilot, and the true me was buried deep inside this new perfect version of me.  I didn’t cry for my mother, not even once.   
I believed him…I thought if she looked down upon me, surely she wouldn't want to see me sad. She would want to see me strong, she would want to see me stronger than everyone.  
Before I knew it, I couldn’t see a single trace of the me from before. Everything that I used to love wasn’t the same anymore.   
Piano, violin… music just became a jumble of black on white paper… school, everything became predictable…Even basketball. Everything I did, I knew I would inevitably win.”  
He pauses to take a breath, and let’s his head fall onto my shoulder in a soft thump.   
I’m overwhelmed by him.   
By his familiar scent.   
“ You’re not like that now,” I say quietly. “ What changed?”

“ And then I met you.”

 

His words don’t make any sense. 

I feel his soft laughter against my shoulder.   
I feel his arms go around my waist, pulling me in gently. 

“ And then…I met you, Tetsuya.”

 

Everything is quiet.   
The silence is almost deafening. All I can hear is Akashi’s quiet uneven breathing against my cheek, and the heavy thumping of my heart. Im worried that he can hear it.   
“ wh…what do you mean?” I somehow find my voice again.   
“ Nine years ago, the summer when I was fifteen, my high school basketball team played against a school called Seirin,” he says in a breathless voice.   
My heart stops for a moment.   
“ We…lost. For the first time,” he continues with a small amused laugh. “ I…lost for the first time.”  
I am quiet.   
“ For the first time in fifteen years, I, Akashi Seijuro couldn’t predict the predictable. And do you know why, Tetsuya? It was because of you. You were unexpected, you came out of no where, and it was because of you that I was able to taste the bitterness of defeat.   
For the longest time, I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand how I could lose to someone like you. Dull, boring, someone with a total lack of presence. And yet…”  
He pauses to take a deep breath and lifts his head so he could look at me, and dear god.   
His eyes.  
“ And yet it was because of you that I woke up. I woke up from that autopilot life I was living, I felt emotions for the first time in a long time; anger, confusion, sadness… And I was finally able to cry for my mother.”  
He smiles.   
“ I cried and I cried, and I cried for all those times I should have cried for her. It’s all thanks to you that I was able to cry for her, it’s all thank to you that I was able to move on.”  
“…But I didn’t even do anything,” I murmur quietly, voice small.   
Akashi shakes his head.   
“ You did everything, Tetsuya,” he says. “ You were everything.”  
“ I tried looking for you after that game. I wanted to get to know you, become friends even. But then I realised that I didn’t even know your name. One of my teammates said that he knew someone from our school who had taken pictures of all the players during that match. I got him to give me that picture of you. I thought I could go to your school and ask around for you.”  
“… But then?”  
“ But then my father decided that I wasn’t doing enough for my future, so he sent me to boarding school in France straight away, and I didn’t get a chance to meet you. When I came back to Japan, I was flooded with paper work and a whole entire company to run. By then, I had thought: what’s the point? He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

Why was he telling me all this? What could he hope to achieve by telling me all this?

“ And then,” Akashi continues, his hand reaching up to touch my cheek. “ And then, nine years later, I saw a certain someone in that exact same black white and red basketball uniform on his twenty fourth birthday. And I thought.”  
He pauses, and laughs in disbelief.  
“ And I thought, my god, this has to be what they call fate.” 

This has to be what they call fate. 

By then, my whole entire body was shaking. It was all too much. He was too much. 

 

“ Stop,” I whisper, closing my eyes. 

I decide that I hate this honest version of Akashi. 

 

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. 

 

“ Nine years,” came his achingly gentle whisper.   
“ …Stop, Akashi kun.”  
“ …I’ve been… hopelessly thinking about you for the past nine years.”

And then I feel the heavy weight of Akashi’s body against mine as he collapses, completely passed out. 

 

I’ve been hopelessly thinking about you for the past nine years. 

 

“ Horrible,” I whisper at the devastatingly beautiful man who I held in my arms. “ You are horrible.”

 

 

I lay Akashi down on my bed, covering him with my sheets. It was quite a struggle trying to drag him into the apartment. Akashi surprisingly weighs more than he let’s on.   
I watch as he falls fast asleep, his face rested against my pillow and his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic fashion. He looked so innocent, like a child.   
I don’t know how long I stay there for. An hour? Two? Three? 

I haven’t got a clue. 

What are you doing Kuroko? I think to myself as I shake my head in disbelief. I squeeze my eyes shut as if I could turn it all off, as if it would all go away. 

 

I didn’t know.   
I didn’t know that the story behind that picture was this. 

 

By the time I manage to drag myself out of my room, I could see the faint pink hues dusting the horizon. As I am about to leave the room, I feel a fingers wrap itself around my wrist.   
I jump a little, startled.   
Akashi stares at me with his heterochromatic eyes, big and still glazed over.   
“ A-Akashi kun,” I murmur, and try to detangle myself from his grasp. “ You’re awake. I’ll go get you some wat—-“  
“ Don’t leave me,” he says suddenly, his voice still heavy with sleep.   
When I don’t reply, he tugs on my hand harder.   
“ Everyone leaves…my mother left, my father was never there in the first place. Tetsuya, don’t leave me too.”  
My insides shrivel up like my innards have been sucked out dry and I manage to smile. I sit down on the edge of my bed and pull up the duvet cover, tucking him in.   
I let my fingers weave through his bright red hair.   
It’s not up to me, I want to say. Im not the one getting married.  
“ I won’t leave,” I say softly instead, knowing fully that he wont remember any of this the next morning anyways, “ not tonight, so sleep well Akashi kun.”

 

His grasp on my wrist loosens a bit, but he doesn’t let go. 

 

 

 

 

The next morning I am woken up by Aomine’s god awful alarm. It’s a recorded voice of an animated version of that model he likes so much. ( I don’t really get it, but it means the world to him.)  
I blink a couple times, confused by my environment, before I realise I had crashed in Aomine’s room since Akashi was occupying mine. 

 

Akashi. 

 

That single word was enough to send me flying to my feet, and out Aomine’s messy excuse of a room. I approach my room, expecting to see Akashi’s scarlet hair peeking out from under the covers, but instead, I am faced with a perfectly made bed.   
My shoulders loosen as I let out a breath of relief. Was there disappointment lacing that sigh? It’s hard to tell.

I almost don’t notice the bright blue sticky note plastered on my bedside lamp. 

For a moment, I consider just throwing it away.   
That’s what I should do.   
Throw it away and never look back again. 

 

I’ve been hopelessly thinking about you for the past nine years. 

 

I squeeze my eyes shut. 

Damn it all.   
My hands tear the sticky note off the lamp shade in one fluid motion. There’s only two words on it. 

 

I’m sorry.

 

I read those two words again and again, trying to make sense of them. 

I’m sorry?   
What the heck does that mean?  
What in the world could the words I’m sorry do for me?

My thoughts are interrupted by a distant engine starting. Before I can comprehend what I am doing, I’m out the door.   
Down the stairs, halting before Akashi’s black car. I watch as confusion settles in his eyes before he gets out of the driver’s seat, slamming the door shut. 

“ Are you crazy, Tetsuya?” He demands, “ What are you doing, my car was moving, I could have killed you.”

Well, he’s certainly sobered up, I think in a daze, remembering that it was just last night when he gently held on to my hand, asking me to not go. 

I swallow hard. 

“ What are you sorry about?” I say.   
“ What?”  
I take a step closer.   
“ Why are you sorry?”  
His eyes go steely as he crosses his arms.   
“ Tetsuya, I wasn’t in my right mind last night, so if I said anything strange, it probably didn’t mean anything.”

“ You’re lying.”

A glare. 

“ I am not.”  
“ Then allow me to refresh your memory, Akashi kun. You came knocking on my door last night, completely out of it, you kissed me, then told me you’ve been thinking about me for the past nine years.”

Akashi for once, is speechless. 

I laugh softly, shaking my head. 

“ Don’t you get it, Akashi kun? It’s not fair. You can’t just show up like that! You can’t tell me things like that and expect me not to stay up all night thinking about all the possibilities for us that are just down right impossible! You can’t just kiss me and expect me to not want to kiss you back, again and again…” I pause. “ Maybe this doesn’t matter all that much to you, but—“

“ Doesn’t matter?” He interrupts, stepping away from his car. “ Of course it matters to me, Tetsuya.”   
“ Then stop leaving me riddles!” I exclaim. “ Stop leaving me unfinished stories with no endings that drive me insane! What are you sorry about, Akashi kun?”

“ Everything!” Came his frustratedly beautiful voice. “ Everything Tetsuya, I am sorry about everything. I’m sorry for all the times I’ve been cruel to you, I’m sorry for snapping at you for things that were not your fault, I’m sorry for not telling you that I had a fiancee. I only found out about that recently, during our trip to the united states actually, and when I did, every cell in my body was tormented by the thought of having to leave you, because dear god, Tetsuya, you don’t deserve that. You deserve so much more, and I’m sorry that you ended up liking someone like me. Im sorry that I can’t…we can’t…”

Suddenly, I feel brave. Suddenly, all my logic flies out the window as I feel the urge to do something I may regret later on. Something that goes against everything I’ve done so far to move on.   
You’re crazy, a voice inside my head whispers angrily.   
I am, I agree. But he’s wrong. 

It’s worth one last try. 

He’s worth one last try. 

“ Three words,” I hear my self say. It doesn’t sound like my voice. It’s almost as if I’m not the one speaking, almost as if Im watching it happen from the sidelines. 

“…Tetsuya?”

“ Three words,” I say louder. “ Say them and I’ll stay. Say them, and…we’ll figure all of this out together.”

Understanding floods into Akashi’s eyes, followed by torment. They twist uncomfortably.   
“ Tetsuya,” he says softly. So, so softly. “ I…”   
He pauses.  
“ I’ve never uttered those words to anyone in my entire life.” Another pause. “ But…but, if I were free to choose whomever I could say them to…perhaps…”

Whatever he was going to say, he chooses not to say it.

We stand there and we just stare at each other in silence, the tension thick enough to be sliced with a knife.   
“ Tetsuya, those magic three words aren’t going to change the fact that there are millions of people depending on me going through with this wedding.”

And that was his final answer. 

 

Looking back, I would realise that the only reason it didn’t hurt like hell at that exact moment was because I was focusing all my power on not crying, because the worst thing about a break up is helplessly crying about it in front of said person.

 

“ I—“  
“ I understand,” I interrupt.   
“ Tetsuya, I—“  
“ Akashi kun,” I say. “ It’s okay. I understand.”  
“…”  
“ I just have one request—two actually,” I say softly. “ Please don’t send me an invitation to your wedding. As much as I’d love to support you, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that.”  
“ Of course,” he says. “ I wouldn’t expect you to.”  
“ And…” I pause, amazed that my composure was still intact, barely intact but still intact… “ I would like to quit. Of course not immediately, I know it’s unprofessional to leave on such sudden notice, so I’d like you to start searching for a replacement for me. I will leave after you’ve found someone to take my place.”

His lips twist into small wistful smile. “ I don’t think anyone could replace you, Tetsuya.”

I would certainly hope not. 

“ You’re getting married, Akashi kun,” I say softly, “ I think you already have replaced me.”

Akashi’s eyes are unreadable as his lips waver.   
I wonder if things could have been different for us if he wasn’t born under the Akashi name. I wonder if we would still be standing where we are today, both hesitant to fully end things once and for all.   
We both jump as Akashi’s phone rings. He swiftly takes a look at the caller and puts his phone away.   
“ It’s my father,” he tells me. “ I have to go.”  
“ Okay,” I think I say.   
His eyes trail to mine one last time before he turns and leaves, without saying good bye.   
I’m glad he doesn’t.   
I don’t think I would do well with goodbyes right now.   
Even as the low growl of his engine has long faded, I still stay where I am, eyes trained on the ground where he last stood, not sure whether I want to laugh, cry or throw myself off a bridge. 

 

“ Tetsuya, those magic three words aren’t going to change the fact that there are millions of people depending on me going through with this wedding.”

 

He’s right.   
Those three words really wouldn’t change anything at all.   
And yet.   
And yet here I am, standing in the same place hoping… wishing that he had said them. 

 

 

I start walking.

 

I imagine how things could have gone in a world where I am fearless, reckless. I imagine a world where I matter more to Akashi Seijuro than A.S. 

 

I would run after him, and throw myself in front of his reversing shiny black car. He would angrily get out of his car and ask me if I was crazy, because he could have run me over.   
“ Yes,” I would reply. “ Yes, Akashi kun, I am crazy. Nothing made any sense after meeting you, and I’m okay with that. I’m okay with being crazy as long as it’s you I’m crazy for. So tell me you feel the same way? Tell me that this is worth it. Tell me I’m worth it. Tell me that we’re worth it.”  
He would stare at me in disbelief with those beautiful cat like eyes of his and then they would soften. He would take a step towards me.   
“ Of course, Tetsuya,” he would breathe, taking my face in his hands. “ Of course you’re worth it.”  
“ Then you’ll do it?” I would reply, leaning in.   
“ Do what?” He would murmur.   
“ Three words.”  
“ What three words?”  
I imagine brushing my lips against his, feeling the electricity run through us.   
“ Fight for this.”  
And then he would kiss me and in that kiss I would taste his answer. 

“ Yes.”

 

 

I stop walking as I find myself standing in front of somewhere very very familiar. Hikari Orphanage.   
How long has it been since I’ve been here? How long has it been since I’ve last spent an afternoon with the children? 

I walk up to the doorstep and knock. I hear footsteps approaching followed by a singsong   
“ Coming!”

I am greeted with Mabuchi’s surprised and happy face as she opens the door.   
“ Kuroko kun!” She says in delight. “ It’s been so long! The kids have missed you so much! Come in, come in.”  
She ushers me in and I almost smile.   
I notice it right away.   
The differences in the building.  
Everything is newer; the walls were freshly painted a bright cream colour with periwinkle blue accents around the ceiling, the doors were all redone, and the cold wooden floors now covered with lush carpets. Where the small excuse of a TV used to be sat a huge flat screen TV. I recognise the brand right away. It belongs to A.S.   
There are many other changes likewise to those ones.   
“ Oh, by the way,” Mabuchi says casually as she closes the door behind me. “ Thank your friend for me, will you?”  
I almost don’t hear her as I turn around in bewilderment.   
“ P-pardon?” I stutter.   
“ Your friend,” she repeats with a knowing smile. “ The one who came last time. You have no idea how surprised I was when all these men barged right in and started fixing up this place.”   
She pauses to laugh. “ And then this one guy was like, step back, miss, this is all curtesy of Mr. Akashi.”  
I am only half listening now.   
“ The kids were thrilled. They’ve never imagined that they would see an actual basketball court in our backyard.”  
This catches my attention.   
“ What?” I whisper.   
She takes my hand and leads me to our backyard basketball court, the one Akashi had called a “ sad excuse of a basketball court” that I ought to be ashamed of.   
Gone was said sad excuse and now in it’s place was an entirely remodelled one, with sturdy hoops and brand new concrete.   
I wonder why my vision is blurry and then I realise that I am crying.   
“ Why didn’t you tell me?” Mabuchi murmurs.   
I blink the tears away.   
“ Tell you what?”  
“ That you two are together.”  
I whip my head around, shocked. “ What?”  
She smiles at me, reaching up to pat my head.   
“ Were you two trying to hide it? Well, it’s plenty obvious to me. I don’t think it’s possible to hide it from me now, Kuroko kun, because I can see it.”  
“ …See what?”   
She rolls her eyes as if she doesn’t believe how dense I am.  
“ I can see how much he loves you.” 

 

“ I’ve never uttered those words to anyone in my entire life. But…but, if I were free to choose whomever I could say them to…perhaps…”  
I hadn’t known then, what he had meant to say.   
But I know now. 

“ I’ve never uttered those words to anyone in my entire life. But…but, if I were free to choose whomever I could say them to…perhaps…”

 

Perhaps it would be you. 

 

“ Were together,” I hear myself whisper.   
“ What?”  
“ We were together.”

And then that was it. That was when I completely and utterly broke down. I wanted to laugh as I was crying my eyes out, because dear lord it was so obvious.   
It was so obvious and I didn’t see it.   
This entire time, all these visions I had about me chasing after Akashi…maybe that was just me only taking things from my perspective.   
Maybe…  
Maybe this entire time, he was the one chasing after me.   
And now it’s too late, because he’s getting married, and he doesn't plan on running after me anymore. 

I break down because I love him. 

I break down because of how stupidly, how idiotically, and just how completely and irrationally I’ve managed to fall in love with him.   
I break down because even though I love him…I’ve also lost him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About five more chapters to go! :)   
> Thank you all for being amazing.


	20. Three little lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ALIVE. YES IM ALIVE.  
> I dont know what to say guys.  
> Im sorry doesn't even cut it.  
> I've become the type of author that I have always hated.  
> But worry not, i will not abandon this story :)

 

Self control has never been one of Kise’s strong suits.  
He eyes drift to his tall and tanned body guard who lays sprawled on the couch beside him, a magazine filled with dirty pictures in one hand and a bright blue popsicle in the other. Aomine’s eyes are glued to the pictures as he licks the dripping popsicle. A shiver runs down Kise’s spine as he tears his eyes away from the man before him.  
God, Kise, he thinks, control yourself.  
Ever since that downright awful day where he was ambushed by the paparazzi during his press conference, then ambushed by Aomine emotionally after the press conference, things have been…well…difficult.  
And what Kise means by difficult is that Aomine has been like an annoying record stuck on repeat in his pathetic mind. Every little thing the former basketball ace does is enough to send Kise’s heart on overdrive. It’s become so bad that Aomine could just breathe and Kise would notice him. He would always, always notice him. Other times, when he wasn’t painfully aware of Aomine’s presence, he would find himself falling back into old habits with him; laughing at stupid jokes, runs to the convenience store, playing video games together. It’s as if nothing has changed since six years ago. It’s as if the reason why Kise left, the reason why it all went to shit was slowly fading away like a distant memory.  
It was so fucking annoying.  
Kise stands up abruptly and makes his way to the thermostat, turning the AC down a couple degrees.  
“ Oi Kise,” Aomine complains from his nesting place on the couch, “ Turn it up would ya? It’s kinda cold.”  
Kise narrows his eyes at the thin black tank that fails to cover Aomine’s toned arms, “ maybe you should stop eating ice cream and put on some clothes then,” he retorts.  
“ You’re so moody these days,” Aomine mutters under his breath, then grins smugly. “ Or are you unable to take my beautiful body in this revealing shirt?”  
Yes, that’s exactly it.  
“ Aominecchi, there’s no need to prove your stupidity if I already know how idiotic you are,” Kise says instead. He pads back to the couch and makes sure to sit on the edge of it, a good two feet away from the bane of his existence.  
Suddenly, Aomine jumps up from his lazy lounging position and closes his hands around Kise’s forearms, pushing him down onto the soft leather of the couch and pins him there. Stars dance across Kise’s vision as his sight blurs for a second. When it clears, Kise is left staring up at a grinning Aomine who’s looking smug like he’s won some kind of game or something.  
That grin.  
How long has it been since he’s seen that grin from so close?  
“ I knew it,” Aomine says with a cocky laugh. “ You’re totally still want me.”  
Kise blinks for a couple seconds, his eyelashes fluttering as his brain lags before he scowls.  
“ Aominecchi, I’m going to give you five seconds to get off of me.”  
“ Or what?”  
“ Or I’ll burn all your porno magazines. Every single one of them.”  
Aomine tears himself off of Kise with a groan.  
“ You’re no fun. You used to be so much fun, now you’re just a prick, Kise.”  
Kise’s heart falls at that, but he keeps his face composed. This isn’t disappointment you feel, he tells himself uselessly.  
He decides to change the topic.  
“ Have you even packed for the ad campaign Im doing tomorrow in Okayama?”  
This seems to catch Aomine’s attention.  
“ We’re going to Okayama tomorrow?” He questions, suddenly serious for once.  
“ Dear god Aominecchi, I’ve told you at least eight times in the past week.”  
“ Okayama?” Aomine repeats quietly to himself.  
Kise pauses in confusion.  
“ Wait…” he trails off, “ Don’t your parents used to live in Okayama?”  
Aomine nods, “ they live there now. They’ve moved back recently.”  
Kise considers this in silence for a moment.  
Aomine’s parents.  
The last time he saw them was when they sat him down and told him he was ruining their son’s life. Kise glances at Aomine discreetly.  
Not that he would know about it, he thinks to himself.  
“ It’ll be good then,” Kise says after a short pause. “ You should go visit them while you’re there.”  
It’ll be a good reminder for Kise too. To stop whatever it is he’s feeling for the former basketball ace before it gets out of hand.  
“ Hey, you should come with me. You know them pretty well, don’ t you? They’ll be happy to see you again.”  
Kise doesn’t say anything to this. 

 

 

 

“ Aominecchi,” Kise complains as Aomine puts another bowl of instant ramen into their shopping cart. “ I can’t eat this stuff, Im going to get bloated and then people are going to write on the internet that Kise Ryouta is fat. Besides you’re going to die an early death if you only eat ramen noodles.”  
After arriving at Okayama the next morning, Aomine decides that he’s hungry even after eating those two huge bowls of rice on the car.  
“ Huh? Then you should cook for me, Kise,” Aomine replies in a bored tone as he eyes the other condiments sitting on the shelves.  
“ Wha—?” Kise says, “ Why should I cook for you? And not to mention the fact that you work for me?”  
He adjusts his huge oversized sunglasses over his eyes as a couple teenage girls pass by. He was being careless, really, being out in public without even covering his face.  
“ But I’m your boyfriend,” Aomine replies in that same bored tone.  
Kise pauses for a moment before his heart beat kicks off and his bright golden orbs widen.  
“ I—we’re—what are you talking about?” He splutters, heat rising to his cheeks.  
“ I’m your boyfriend,” Aomine repeats.  
Kise closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He refuses to lose his calm in a supermarket in Okayama of all places.  
“ And how,” Kise says though clenched teeth, “ did you ever get that idea?”  
Aomine just looks at Kise and shrugs.  
“ Well, technically we never broke up,” he reasons.  
“ I thought our break up was obvious enough when I left six years ago.”  
Aomine falls quiet at that and Kise regrets his choice of words as soon as they’re out of his mouth. He glances at Aomine’s still back, mind and heart both racing at a million miles per hour.  
Stupid! Kise screams internally. Why would he choose to say the words he knew would hurt Aomine the most?  
Stupid stupid stupid.  
“ Look, Aominecchi, I’m sor——“ Kise begins.  
“ You’re right,” Aomine interrupts.  
“ I—what?” Kise says with a wrinkle of his brows.  
Aomine turns around with an unreadable expression painting his features. He sticks his hands into the pockets of his slouchy jeans and glances up at Kise with those dark blue-blue eyes.  
“ You’re right,” he repeats. “ We broke up six years ago.”  
Kise ignores the throb of pain that echoes through his chest and nods his blonde head in agreement.  
“ Yeah, so—“  
“ We broke up six years ago,” Aomine continues, interrupting once again, “ but how bout now?”  
Kise could only stare at Aomine stupidly, shopping cart gripped tightly in his hands, heart racing madly in his chest.  
“ How bout now Kise? Do you still want to be with me?” Aomine says again, slowly. He says it in such a passive way that makes Kise confused as to whether he was being serious or if he had just said it on a whim.  
“ Do you still love me?”  
Kise wants to scream. Or hide. Or run.  
Or all of the above.  
He doesn’t know.  
There are moments in stories where the protagonist would be faced with a certain situation that would trigger the flight or fight response in his or her brain. Kise felt as if this was his moment, only he isn't the main character of some story and this sure as hell isn't going to end with him finally proposing his love.  
Because life just doesn't work that way.  
“ Oi, I don’t have all day,” Aomine says with a little laugh.  
Kise swallows, and suddenly a crazed thought runs through his mind.  
But what if it doesn’t have to be that way? What if this could end differently than the way that he imagined it would?  
It’s possible.  
All he has to do is say how he actually feels.  
All he has to do is say yes.  
Tell him that no matter how hard he has tried, years after years, he could never forget about him. Tell him that no matter how hard he might be trying right now, he still wants to say yes.  
Yes, he could do that.  
He could do that because Aomine hasn’t moved on, has he? That means there’s still a chance for them isn't there?  
Kise opens his mouth, his heart thundering against his rib cage.  
“ I—-“

“ Daiki?” A soft voice sounds from behind Aomine. 

Kise freezes.  
“ Isn’t that Daiki?”  
Aomine turns around and surprise flickers across his eyes. Slowly a smile forms upon his lips.  
“ Mom,” Aomine says in pleasant surprise, “ what are you doing here?”  
Kise whirls around, turning his back on them. He puts his sunglasses on with fumbling fingers, his mad trance from a couple seconds ago shattered like fragments of fragile glass.  
It’s her.  
It’s her.   
Kise squeezes his eyes shut and fights against the urge to rip his hair out.  
How could he be so stupid?  
How could he think that things would work out magically like in some fairy tale? He may act in dramas but he sure as hell doesn't live in one.  
“ What are you talking about, Daiki?” His mother says with a small laugh. “ I live here, the question should be what are you doing here, and why in the world did you not tell me about it?”  
Kise starts to retreat in silence but he lets out a soft cry of surprise when he feels Aomine grab onto his wrist and whirl him back around to face them.  
“ I came with this guy,” Aomine says plainly, pointing his thumb to Kise.  
“ And this is…”  
Aomine’s mother leans to take a better look at Kise, and Kise turns away automatically.  
He promised them.  
He promised her he wouldn’t be seen with her son ever again.  
He promised he would stay away.  
“ Oi, Kise. Don’t go pulling your high class movie star act on me now. And take off those stupid sunglasses—-“  
Kise’s sunglasses, his one means of self protection is ripped away from him as he glares at Aomine.  
“ Aominecchi! Be gentle, those are designer—-“  
He breaks off as he feels the heavy gaze falling upon him.  
Aomine’s mother’s eyes widen with recognition, then soften with an expression Kise doesn’t understand.  
“ Oh…” She says softy as if to herself. “ Oh…”  
Kise blinks rapidly as he fumbles for words to say.  
“ uh-um—I”  
“ Kise kun, isn’t that right?” Aomine’s mother says after her short pause, her voice quiet. “ It’s been a very long time.”  
Pretend this is a scene, Kise tells himself. Pretend she’s an interviewer.  
Kise takes a deep breath and smiles his best model smile.  
“ Hi Mrs. Aomine, it’s been a whi—“  
“ Hey, mom,” Aomine interrupts, yanking Kise forward abruptly. “ This guy became a celebrity, can you believe it?”  
“ Aominecchi,” Kise hisses under his breath in complaint. He shakes Aomine’s hand free, careful not to unnecessarily touch the tall basketball ace in front of his mother.  
Aomine’s mother only smiles, although it was a smile laced with a bittersweet sadness.  
“ Why don’t you boys come over for lunch?” Aomine’s mother offers, motioning to her groceries basket. “ I’ll make hot pot.”

 

 

Kise really didn’t want to come, he really didn’t.  
But come on, Kise, Aomine had said. I haven’t had legit food in like weeks. Oi, you can’t deprive me of my own mother’s food. That’s just inhuman, man.  
Kise sighs inwardly as he steps into the Aomine’s apartment. He isn’t sure why Aomine’s mother allowed for him to come too. He shakes his head. It was probably just out of politeness.  
Besides, he glances at Aomine who was walking up ahead with his mother, chatting animatedly.  
Aomine seemed happy enough.  
“ Come in, Kise kun,” Aomine’s mother say kindly.  
It makes Kise think of when Aomine’s dad told him to get the hell out of their house.  
“ Pardon the intrusion,” Kise mutters under his breath. He ducks under the low door frame and steps into Aomine’s mother’s home. It was quite a small place, cozy would be the right word to describe it. There were pictures of Aomine everywhere; Aomine in pre school, Aomine holding his first basketball, Aomine in middle school, Aomine in high school. There were pictures of Aomine’s parents too. There were pictures of their family vacations together, pictures of them gathered around the table during what must have been Christmas.  
Kise drags his gaze away from the pictures.  
“ Ah, Kise kun,” Aomine’s mother says, poking her head out of the tiny kitchen behind the dining room, “ is there anything in particular you would like to eat? Anything at all?”  
Surprised, Kise just shakes his head. “ Nothing in particular,” he replies in a shaking voice.  
“ And you Daiki?”  
Aomine leaps to his feet from the couch and bounds towards the kitchen, grinning as he says, “ I’ll eat anything. Man, I’m starved for real food. You should see the healthy shit Kise eats, mom. It’s an insult to food.”  
“ That healthy shit you’re referring to is the reason why I'm going to outlive you,” Kise retorts naturally before catching himself.  
To his surprise once again, Aomine’s mother only laughs.  
“ Get out,” she tells Aomine. “ Go entertain Kise kun, your presence is not needed here.”

 

 

“ Oi Kise.”  
Kise decides to ignore the pesky voice by his ear and concentrate instead on the steaming hotpot before him.  
“ Oi, Kise.”  
Kise sighs and turns to him with a frown. “ What?”  
Aomine holds up his bowl with a pointed look.  
“ You see this?” He asks, lifting his bowl once again. “ This is what you call real food. Learn.”  
Kise rolls his eyes and takes a sip of the steaming broth. His eyes widen in pleasure as the warm taste spreads on his tongue.  
“ This is amazing!” He says in delight.  
Aomine guffaws with his mouth full while his mother smiles at Kise’s child like expression. “ I’m glad you like it.”  
Kise pauses at the sight of her smile and dips his head to continue eating in a confused silence.  
What was going on?  
Why was Aomine’s mother being so…nice to him? When he’s obviously broken his promise. He promised he would stay out of her son’s life and yet he hires him as his body guard, where he has to stay close to Kise’s side everyday. Kise’s basically not only broken his promise but has also done the opposite of keeping it.  
“ Um, when will Mr. Aomine be home?” Kise asks tentatively after a while. He definitely should be out of this apartment before Aomine’s father gets back. Somehow, Kise feels that he wouldn't be as welcoming as Aomine’s mother.  
Suddenly, Aomine pauses and glances at his mother who’s also stopped eating, a sad smile painting her lips. She glances at her hands before looking up at Kise with the same small smile.  
“ He passed away a couple years ago, Kise kun,” she replies softly.  
Kise’s eyes widen and his fingers tighten around his bowl.  
“ I-Im sorry…”  
He trails off and glances at Aomine who just does a half shrug and looks away as if saying “ what? It never came up.”  
Aomine’s mother shakes her head. “ That’s okay, it was a long time ago.”  
Kise’s gaze drifts back down to his soup, an awkward silence filling the room.  
“ Hey, mom,” Aomine blurts out, making Kise jump a little in his seat. “ I just remembered, did you eat your medicine yet?”  
She blinks and slaps her forehead gently before fumbling behind her for medicine bottles. “ Oh right,” she murmurs under her breath. “ My memory these days…”  
“ You forgot again? This is why I keep telling you to just keep the bottles out where you can see them—-“  
“ I know, I know.”  
Kise watches as Aomine gets up to pour his mother a glass of water.  
He’s changed, he realises.  
Kise had originally thought that Aomine was still the same old Aomine, but he was wrong.  
During the six years that he was absent from Aomine’s life, Aomine’s been through more things than Kise thought he had been through.  
It makes him wish that he had never left…that he could have been there for him during those six years. 

 

 

 

 

“ Well?” Aomine says as him and Kise walk back to their hotel. It was already well past four and the sun was beginning to set, casting a warm orange glow on the pavement before them.  
Kise glances up at his tall body guard. “ Well what?”  
“ Do you admit after today that that healthy shit you eat is not real food?”  
Kise snorts.  
“ That again?”  
“ Do you?”  
Kise rolls his eyes. “ Just because some thing doesn't taste as good doesn’t mean it isn't real food, Aominecchi.”  
“ No way that purple shit you eat every morning is good.”  
Kise scoffs. “ I’ll have you know that acai berries are one of the best things you could possibly eat.”  
“ aca-what?”  
“ Never mind,” Kise says forcing back a small chuckle.  
They walk past an empty playground and Kise thinks back to that awkward lunch.  
“ You never talk about it,” he says abruptly.  
Aomine pauses for a moment before glancing down at Kise.  
“ What? You mean about my old man?” He scratches his neck. “ It was a long time ago.”  
They walk in silence for another minute before Kise asks, “ how?”  
“ How did he…”  
What he really wanted to ask was “ what happened?”  
What happened while he wasn’t there? Why did his parents move? How did his father suddenly pass away? Why does Aomine’s mother suddenly have to take medicine? How did he end up going into law enforcement? Someone who was always set on becoming a basketball star?  
There was so much that Kise wanted to ask. So much that he should have asked a long time ago but didn’t.  
Aomine stops walking and stuffs his hands into his jean pockets.  
“ After I graduated high school, my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer. We weren’t well off and couldn’t afford the expensive ass treatments so my parents decided to move back to Okinawa and I ended up moving in with Tetsu. Things got better after that. My mom got the surgery, and was recovering in the hospital. But then…”  
He trails off.  
“ But then my old man got into a car accident. A hit and run.”  
Kise stares at Aomine, unsure of what to say. So he decides not to say anything. He takes a deep breath and steps forward, fingers gently lacing around Aomine’s wrist.  
So that’s why you ended up in law enforcement, Kise thinks to himself.  
I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t—-wasn’t there for you.  
“ That’s how,” he finishes. “ He died in an accident.”  
Kise knew well enough that saying I’m sorry wouldn’t do anything. 

Because sometimes sorry just wasn’t enough. 

“ He was a good man,” Kise says instead. “ He…cared a lot about you.”  
Aomine grins and captures Kise’s lingering fingers in his hand. Kise blinks in surprise but doesn't pull away.  
“ He was an awesome dad. And I'm not just sayin’ that, ya know? People would always call me a good for nothing son who only knew to play basket ball. “ Oh look at Aomine’s kid. Playing basketball again? Shouldn’t he study a little more? With those grades of his?”” Aomine turns to kise with a proud look on his face. “ But my old man never gave a crap. “ My son is an athlete! What’s wrong with that? He’s a real man, to hell with all those people,” is what he would say.”  
Kise can’t help but flash back to the moment Aomine’s father had claimed that he would disown Aomine if Kise didn’t leave. Had that been a bluff after all?  
He only nods in response.  
They walk like that for a while, Aomine’s hand wrapped tightly around Kise’s. The late afternoon sun elongating their shadows so it looked as if they were three times the height they actually were.  
“ Well,” Aomine says, breaking the silence. “ It’s my turn now.”  
“ Your turn for what?”  
“ To ask questions.”  
“ What do you mean—-“  
“ Why did you leave?” Aomine interrupts. “ I want the truth this time. No half assed lies.”  
Kise stops in his tracks.  
“ Why did you leave, Kise?” Aomine repeats.  
“ I thought it didn’t matter to you,” Kise says in a small voice.  
Aomine snorts. “ Oi, I was obviously trying to look cool, but that clearly didn’t work, so I’m asking you now. Why did you leave?”  
Well, Kise? He want’s the truth. Are you going to tell him? A voice whispers anxiously in his mind.  
I know, I know, Kise thinks back angrily.  
But you can’t tell him the truth can you? It whispers again.  
Why not? Kise thinks in bewilderment.  
If you tell him, you’ll be destroying the image of the perfect old man he has of his father. If you tell him, you’d be taking away the only thing he has left of his father: good memories.  
If you tell him the truth, you’d only be hurting him again.  
So Kise couldn't tell the truth after all, could he? Not unless he wanted to hurt Aomine. And no, of course he didn’t want to do that. How could he stand here and tell him his kind and supportive father threatened to disown him unless Kise left after hearing Aomine’s story? How could he shatter the loving memory Aomine had of his old man?  
He wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t do that. 

Because Kise loved him too much to hurt him. 

He thought he wouldn’t fall in love with Aomine again after coming back. He thought that he would just check up on him, see that he was doing fine and just leave.  
But he was lying to himself after all wasn’t he? 

Because he never fell out of love with Aomine.  
Never. 

He untangles his hand from Aomine’s.  
“ I wanted a normal life,” Kise forces himself to speak.  
Lie number one.  
“ What?” Aomine echoes.  
“ I wanted to be able to live without people pointing fingers at me. I wanted to be able to have children and start a family like a normal person in the future.”  
Lie number two.  
Even Aomine could understand what Kise meant by now.  
“ Hey Kise, answer this…do you love me?”  
Kise pauses before turning around so that Aomine couldn't see the tears decorating his golden orbs.

“ No.”

Lie number three. 

And then Aomine takes a step backwards and smiles the perfect smile of a complete stranger.  
“ I get it,” he says. 

 

It was funny how three little lies could destroy something so fast.  
It was funny the way lies worked.  
They could tear things apart faster and better than the most lethal weapon in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh....so i hope you don't hate me.  
> The next chapter will be out soon. 
> 
> Once again, thank you all so much for the concerning and caring comments during that long break that i took.  
> Thank you all so much.


End file.
